Constantine
by mercenarymoon
Summary: Artemis takes into his care an amnesiac trying to help him regain his memories, but is there more to this mysterious man than meets the eye. AxH rating is for later chapters
1. Enter into Artemis

**I do not own any of the Artemis Fowl Characters, Eoin (Owen) Colfer does**

Chapter 1

Enter Artemis

The air froze, it is amazing how one word can change the atmosphere around you. Such as yelling fire' in a movie theater can change the atmosphere from calm enjoyment to mass panic. But not so often does the atmosphere change from calm enjoyment to dead silence. This would take a particularly strong word, or a string of words, such as "the president is dead". An everyday word like "checkmate" would usually not cause this eerie silence, maybe in your opponent, but not in an entire park. Even the birds had stopped their senseless chatter, their lovely singing.

Butler stared at the chess board in front of him, he knew enough about the game to follow it, barely. The game based so cleverly on war had moved so fast that it was hard to follow unless by experienced players. Yet the winner just sat there, calm and composed with a serene smile on his face. Almost as if he had planned it. Butler finally tore his eyes away from the board and looked at the equally stunned crowd. What he saw in their eyes confirmed what he heard.

Artemis Fowl II had lost.

"Good game." said the winner, whose name was still unknown to Butler "I never actually thought I'd meet someone who was that much of a challenge, at your level of skill you must know the feeling." The unknown chess master sat back in his seat, shaking his head. "you almost had me for a second with that rook. Thought you'd lost your marbles, but then I realized it was a feint. Almost to late!" He shook his head again. Then jumped as if he had forgotten something. "Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Constantine." He held out his hand.

Artemis stared at the hand as if it wasn't human, maybe it wasn't, could any human really beat him? His appall at his defeat was apparent, written all over his face. Then he composed himself. "Yes, of course, I'm Artemis Fowl." He shook the mans hand, and decided to use his use his deductive skills to learn more about the mysterious man.

Constantine was around 20, had a large build, and well toned muscles. He had to be left handed, and had scars running up his arms. He had a crew cut with just a few strands of light brown hair coming down over his eyes. He was used to money, judging by his clothes. He wore a brand name coat with a jet black shirt resting under it. His pants were also black. He had a gold ring, 24 carat by Artemis' glance, on his_ left_ hand, indicating that he was married. Young, to be married Artemis thought.

Butler's search was less thorough, searching only for weapons, none, that he could tell.

Artemis then decided that it was time to interrogate the newfound genius. "So, Constantine," he said, steeping his fingers together, "how old are you?" a trace of his vampiric smile traced across his lips.

"Exactly? I don't know." he said, the smile gone from his face the first time.

Alarm bells went off in Butlers head. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Amnesia." Constantine said simply. "I woke up uhh, seven years ago, in the Artic with no memory of my previous life." He said he started to rub the bridge of his nose. "I amazingly enough made it out because there was a city nearby. I was in Russia apparently, I had on a dog tag that told me my name, Constantine Seven." He sighed heavily, Artemis could tell that this was a touchy subject. "Well, I managed to access my accounts, and flew back here. Checked the hall of records, found I had a house up on the hill there." He pointed to a spot by fowl manor. "And ever since then I've been trying to learn who I was. No luck though, just some stuff on my previous job."

Butler raised an eyebrow at this. "Nothing else?"

Constantine shook his head. "Nope."

Butler looked at his young charge, or not so young. Ever since Artemis had returned from Hybras, he had been different. Not just in an emotional aspect, which had changed, but physically as well. He had been working out in the manors gym, building some muscle on his previously lanky body . Also, the past three years seemed to be catching up with him. His torso, legs arms and hair growing at a phenomenal rate, it was like he was going through puberty in a manner of months. He tied his hair back in a ponytail to prevent himself from needing constant haircuts. He was also spending quite a bit more time with Holly, and an unaccountable number of embarrassing moments brought about by Holly. Butler smiled, so much for having puberty under control.

"What about your wife?" asked Artemis, looking at the odd man.

"Hmm?" Constantine was obviously caught deep in thought. "Oh, my wife is dead."

Artemis was taken aback by this. "Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that, I-"

"Don't be." Constantine cut him off, waving his hand. "It's my own damn fault really, getting her involved..."

"Involved?" inquired Artemis.

"In my previous occupation. I was a bounty hunter." Butler nodded, and Artemis understood, being a bounty hunter was dangerous. The murder of his wife was probably somebody's twisted form of revenge. "Got my daughter too." continued Constantine, Artemis knew enough about psychology, he needed to get this off his chest. "She didn't have nothin' to do with it. And she had the prettiest blue eye's."

"from you?" Asked Artemis, noting the color of Constantine's eyes

"No her mother." A silence ensued between the two genii. The rest of the chess park had continued with their games. The clack of the pieces hitting the boards sounded like a playing card a young boy would put in his new bike to make it sound like a motorcycle.

Butler looked at his charge again, and saw a spark in Artemis' eyes. That spark sent shivers up and down Butler's spine, he was about to say something when-

"Come with us." Artemis said with a smile a genuine smile one of the things he picked up in Hybras, along with a few _other _things.

"Come again?" started Constantine.

"Come with us." Artemis said again getting excited, something very rare for the young genius. "We have vast resources, we may be able to get your memories back." Butler was sure these "vast" resources were the fairies, but he held his tongue.

Constantine thought for a moment. "Okay, why not?"

Butler rolled his eyes, here we go again.

**This is my first chaptered fic, so please review, I might be inclined to quit writing if you don't **

** Your humble author**

** Lune**

**P.S. No flames please**


	2. Look Into my Eyes

**I do not own the Artemis Fowl characters and do not pretend to**

Chapter 2

Look Into My Eyes

Fowl Manor was built by Lord De Foule to be a fortress. It had everything a castle would need for defense: highest ground, large stone walls, and if you looked closely you could even see remnants of gun ports on the east wall. But since mid evil times the Castle had been renovated many times. Expanding it to almost double it's original size. It's youngest inhabitant even put in a new set of marble doors, which, amazingly enough, never showed up on the construction records.

The drive to the manor was almost as awe inspiring as the manor itself. Giant cypress trees surrounded the grounds, and once you cleared the forest, you would see a large maze made out of rose bushes. On the other side of the driveway, there was a large meadow with a sakura tree in the middle of it. Under which, a certain boy genius and a certain female member of the LEPrecon would sit and talk, the only female member of the LEPrecon actually.

Constantine stepped out of the Fowl Bentley and looked up at the manor. "Dang," he stated, looking up at the manor. "You know, I've never actually seen this place." he looked at Artemis. "Kinda hard to believe I missed it."

Artemis laughed as he punched in the access code "Yes, it has that effect on most people."

"Then again, some people were knocked out by a hypodermic dart when they first came here." the voice was feminine and quiet, barely a whisper, but Artemis heard it clearly. He froze, and any color that was in his face to begin with drained out of it.

Butler noticed this and looked at his charge, his trained eyes actually saw the slight shimmer just above Artemis' head. The Section 8 suits were good, but they weren't perfect. Not yet.

Constantine noticed too. "Something wrong Artemis?"

"No, I just remembered someone I was supposed to call." It wasn't entirely untrue either. He was supposed to call Holly a half hour ago, but was to caught up in the chess game to remember. Oops.

Constantine smiled "Girl problems?"

"You have no idea." Artemis felt a light punch in the shoulder. He reached out to open the door and pulled it open.

Constantine saw it first. A small fist flying through the open doorway. He moved faster than anyone else could see, and caught the fist an inch away from Artemis' face. The boy genius barely had time to flinch.

Constantine looked up the arm he was holding at the face of the attacker. His eyes were no longer soft as they had been for the last few hours that Artemis had known him. He raised his other palm to counter strike but paused when Butler put an arm on his shoulder. He looked up at the behemoth of a man confused. Then he looked at Artemis, amazingly, his face was relaxed and composed.

"Ah, Juliet."

Constantine looked again at the attacker, and noticing it was a girl, let go of the arm. "You know her?" he asked him.

"Yes, Constantine, I would like you to meet Juliet, my personal fitness trainer, part time bodyguard, and Butler's sister. "

Constantine looked up at Butler, and saw that his eye's were full of pride for the girl. "And she attacked you, why?"

Artemis laughed, "Our little game, we both try to get the better of each other, And if it was not for your expertly executed defense, she would've won."

Constantine stood up straight and brushed some dirt off his jacket, "Hell of a game."

"I like to think so."

"Umm, not to be rude," interceded Juliet, "but who the hell are you?" She was still amazed to see that someone could block her punch so easily.

"Oh, my apologies." Said Constantine, back in his usual demeanor. "I am Constantine, at your service."

"Oh really?" Constantine nodded. Butler rolled his eyes, his sister could be quite flirtatious. "Well I-" she was cut off by Butler ushering them inside. They dallied too long outside the manor, they would've been easy targets for any hit men.

Constantine was awed by the inside of the manor, the paintings and portraits were amazing. Holly still wanted to put a couple of holes in them.

"Constantine, in here." Artemis said, showing the way to the living room. Constantine followed him in, Butler and Juliet went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, and Constantine almost noticed the slight shimmer following them into the living room. Almost.

The Fowl family living room was just as elaborate as the entrance hall, if a bit more modern. It had one large screen laser television on one side. With two large leather couches facing each other on the other. The walls were littered with impressionist paintings, even one that looked like it was done by Pascal Herve.

Constantine and Artemis sat down on either couches and faced each other. Artemis' position, was more business like and Constantine was more relaxed. Holly noted this as she sat down on the arm rest of Constantine's couch. Then, Artemis pulled out what looked like a pyramid made out of solid puzzle pieces and a stopwatch from under the coffee table that separated the two couches. He placed it on the table.

Constantine looked at it for a moment, then said, "An I.Q. Test Artemis? Surely you could have come up with something a bit more orthodox?"

Artemis smiled, a truly vampire-like smile, "I could have, but this is more fun. Plus, It's of my own design."

"Ah. So tell me, how does this test of yours work?." Constantine asked, mirroring Artemis' smile perfectly.

"Surely you've figured it out already?"

"I have." conceded Constantine. "But I like to be told that I'm right."

Holly groaned as silently as she could. Now there were three of them!

"Well, this pyramid can be made into a cube, if you put the pieces in the right place. I have a calculation with the time that will show your I.Q. You will find that it is more accurate then most conventional tests." Artemis explained. "Is that close to what you thought?"

"No." Said Constantine, still staring at the pyramid. Then he looked up at Artemis, "it's exactly what I thought."

"Let's get started." It was at that exact moment that Artemis' phone rang. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "Oh God." he whispered as he looked at who it was. Constantine arched an eyebrow. Artemis looked at him "I'm sorry I have to take this. Do you mind timing yourself?" He asked.

"No not at all." replied Constantine.

"Thank you." Artemis stood up and flipped the phone open. "Hello? Hi Minerva. Yes I know. I know! Look I-" the rest of the conversation was shut off by the closing of the living room door.

Constantine stared at the door for a second before he said. "Yeah, she's a keeper."

Holly laughed silently as she watched him. He pressed the "start" button on the stopwatch and started working on the pyramid. Taking it apart and putting it back together again. It was amazing, Holly watched as his fingers flew over the pieces with a dexterity and precision that she wasn't even sure that Artemis could match. And suddenly, he was done.

Constantine put down the cube and stopped the watch. Then he started looking around the room. Eventually, his eyes came to rest on her. Holly started to sweat, unsure if he could see her or not. He shouldn't be able to, but those eyes... Suddenly they twitched, he didn't blink, but his eyeballs actually twitched. Then they moved a gain, back and forth, gaining speed until, they were vibrating! Suddenly, his pupils disappeared,swallowed by the retinas which became jagged. He narrowed his eyes, as if that wasn't enough. Then, the blue retinas started enlarging, swallowing the rest of his eyes up, no white was showing, just a steady blue.

Holly was sweating profusely now. She closed her eyes and shook her head, thinking it all a dream. And when she opened them again, everything was normal, maybe it had been a dream, maybe she was going mad.

After a few minutes of awkward silence Artemis walked back into the room. "I'm sorry about that." He said. Then he looked at the cube sitting on the coffee table. "Your finished."

"Yeah," stated Constantine, "check it out." He tossed Artemis the stopwatch, but the toss was too low, Artemis had to bend down a bit to catch it, putting his right eye right in the path of a light beam. Artemis stood up and looked at the time on the watch, did some calculations in his head, and deleted the data. "Well?"

Artemis looked at him, "242," he stated, "one higher than mine."

Constantine smiled, "Knew it was something like that." He said, then he paused. "Say Artemis?"

"Yes?"

"What color is your right eye? Really."

Artemis smiled. "You noticed?"

"Yeah." Artemis reached into his eye and pulled out a blue contact.

"Hazel." Said Artemis looking at Constantine, showing his hazel right eye.

"That _is _interesting." said Constantine, leaning back into the couch.

"Why?" asked Artemis. "Besides the obvious." Holly gulped from where she was. She knew _exactly _where this was going.

"Because there is a curious little creature sitting on my armrest that has a blue left eye, and a hazel right one."

All eyes in the room focused on a small blur on the armchair. Then, one Holly Short appeared, and blew a strand of auburn hair out of her eyes.

"Darvit."

**Look, to all those who complain about Artemis' growth spurt. He has finished growing and went to the chess park because there were rumors of a chess master who couldn't be beat.**

**please review. I'll try to answer all of your questions. **

**here are some answers.**

**1) no I'm not going to quit writing**

**2) This story has nothing to do with the movie Constantine. I came up with the story first**

**3) Artemis has not become a saint and has taken artemis in out of the goodness of his heart, but more of that in the next chapter.**

**PLEASE REVIEW (oops, darn caps lock)**

**Your humble Author**

** Lune.**


	3. Dog Tags and Tagged Dogs

**I do not own Artemis fowl, only constantine, and yes i actually have him copywritten**

* * *

Dog Tags and Tagged Dogs 

Holly awoke to a bright sunshine shining through the third story window of Fowl Manor. The room she was staying in was large and familiar, she had been staying in it often and it had become a sort of vacation home to her. She squinted at it as the sunlight blinded her, and she hid under the covers. As she tried to fall back to sleep, an alarm went off next to her bed.

She threw the covers off of her head and slammed down on the "off" button on the clock and sat up. It blinked seven o'clock at her and Holly realized that she had to get up. Artemis had warned her that his parents ate at seven-thirty sharp two months ago, and she had since learned that his mother did not take kindly to people who were late to mealtimes.

After she had groaned her way out of bed, she stretched and looked out the window. She stared at the sky and sun for a minute, taking in its warmth. A pity, she thought to herself, that glowing orb has given life to everything on earth and the mud people were turning its rays into a biohazard, she almost felt sorry for them.

She walked into her room's bathroom and turned on the shower. She still thought it was unsanitary to have a bathroom inside but Fowl jr. had told her to get over it. She was supposed to be acting like a mud woman, and she would have to use the bathroom indoors.

That was another thing, because of her frequent jaunts to the surface, Foaly had given Holly a special serum that would make her look a little more acceptable to the mud man eye. It was based off of what Opal Koboi did to herself, a "portable pituitary" he called it. So now, she was taller, not a basketball player, but she would pass as human, she just had to wear a hat.

Holly stepped into the shower and let the hot water run down her chestnut skin. It felt so relaxing to take a long shower, and she needed relaxation.

When she finally was ready, she boldly stepped out of her room. It reminded her a bit of Star Trek, to boldly go where no fairy has gone before, well, she has done that, many times over.

As she stepped down the hall towards the stairs, she got the feeling that someone was following her. Keeping up her pace she strained her keen ears but heard nothing. Then as she reached the stairs, she had the feeling again, and she turned around.

Standing there, wearing all black (surprise) was Constantine, and the sight of him reminded her of the events of the night before.

"_what is the meaning of this Major?" Commander Vinyaya shouted through the screen in Artemis' living room. She seemed to be channeling Root's spirit. And without waiting for a response, she continued. "You let a human see you? And more than that, why isn't he wiped?"_

"_I'm sorry Commander." Responded Holly, who was holding her own really well. The room she was in was the same room she had been in when being reprimanded for healing Butler by Commander Root. Now one promotion and five years later, she was being reprimanded for being caught. "The human could see through my shield.-"_

"_And I prevented her from wiping my client." Cut in Artemis. _

"_Client?"_

"_Yes Commander, you see, Constantine here hired me to help him regain his memories." Constantine raised his hand in acknowledgement when Artemis mentioned his name. He seemed to be having fun, at least one of them was. Butler and Juliet stood at either entrance to the room, Butler with his usual poker-face and Juliet looked bored._

"_What do you mean he could see through your shield even with the smart wafers." Asked Foaly, who shared a split screen with Vinyaya, it was the first thing he had said all night._

"_I can explain that." Started Constantine._

"_Shut it you filthy mud man!" shouted Vinyaya "Holly?"_

"_Holly? Holly Short?" he interrupted again._

_Holly looked at Constantine. "Yes."_

"_I thought you were a captain." He said. _

"_I got a promotion." She said warily. _

"_Then this is outdated." He said. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small dog tag. He tossed it over to Holly. She stared at it awestruck. On it was her exact name, serial number and rank from seven years ago. _

"_where did you get this?" she asked, trying to hold down the shivers that were going up and down her spine. _

"_Found it." He said simply. "When I woke up." _

"_That's impossible!" Shouted Holly. Constantine just shrugged. _

"_What is it major?" asked Vinyaya._

"_This Commander." She held up the small piece of metal up to a camera. Both Vinyaya and Foaly drew in a breath._

"_Holly," began the commander, her voice dangerously low. "When you get back I want that on my desk."_

"_Yes sir."_

"_Good, now explain to me exactly what happened." _

_As Holly explained what happened, Constantine leaned over and whispered to Artemis. "You know, I've been called a lot of things in the past few years but never 'filthy mud mad'" _

"_You'll get used to it."_

_"Fine," Stated Vinyaya, as Holly finished her explanation, "he can keep his memories, but he must stay here with Major Short looking over him for the next few weeks, or until he gets back his memories, whichever comes first."_

_Artemis stood up and straightened his suit. "Deal." _

"_Well if that's the deal I should go back to my place and get my stuff." Spoke up Constantine_

"_I'll go with you." Said Holly, "To make sure you don't try to get away."_

"_Fine."_

The trip to Constantine's house was strangely nostalgic. Holly couldn't shake the feeling that she had been there before, with the owner who was standing in front of her now.

"You okay Holly?" asked Constantine waving a hand in front of her face.

"Wha- yeah." Holly shook her head, clearing it.

"Yeah you kinda spaced out there for a minute."

"Sorry."

"It's okay, but we'd better get downstairs before Artemis' mom has a fit."

Holly chuckled. "Yeah." And they began their descent. When they walked downstairs Holly studied Constantine. Trying to find out where she new him from, but she couldn't find anything.

"So, how did you and Artemis meet?" Constantine asked when they were halfway down the stairs.

"Long story." Said Holly.

"I've got time." So Holly told him. She told him the story of how Artemis kidnapped her. She went on to retell The Artic Incident. And she told him of the C-cube, and of Opal Koboi. She told him how the commander died, and of how they rediscovered the lost race of the demons. Plus she told him of Artemis' consulting firm.

"And that's How Artemis and I met." She finished. She looked at Constantine who was deep in thought. "What is it?"

"One of you is bad luck." He said, looking at her.

"It's him." she answered quickly.

"Yeah."

The centaur Foaly sat as his computer in section 8. He was researching the news in Russia.

"Anything?" asked Wing-Commander Vinyaya.

"No, it's like this guy just showed up out of nowhere. But it's him, he's back."

"Any ideas on what he wants?"

"Well, if his story is true-"

"Which it isn't." she looked at Foaly, "It can't be."

"Well if it is," restarted Foaly, annoyed at being interrupted. "then it means he wants revenge."

"For what?"

"Being born."

* * *

**Okay, I finally got the third chapter up. I'm sorry it took so long but i had exams and i lost the flash drive I was writing this on**

**but I will update more quickly**

**and whether or not it's a female officer you still call the commanding officer "sir"**

**Please read and review**

**Your humble author**

**Lune**


	4. Opening Move

Chapter 4

Shell Shocked

After breakfast at Fowl Manor, Constantine, Holly, and Artemis all sat in the sun in Artemis' backyard. Unfortunately, in spite of this daily routine that Artemis had began, he was still pale as ever, Holly was beginning to think his skin was bleached. Constantine, on the other hand, was restless. He wanted his memory back, desperately, but Artemis had given no insight as to when they were going to start.

"Artemis." He began, his own voice giving his intentions away.

Artemis smiled. "No doubt you are wondering when we are going to get started on you memories."

"Yeah."

"Well I have to wait for my parents to leave, for I cannot do anything while they're still here. That's why they think Holly is just my friend. It's a necessary procedure for the fairies safety and my parent's."

Holly who was laying between them, was unfazed by this turn of events. It was something that he had told her a long time ago, when she came for the first consultant appointment. He had told him that they were to never find out that he was working for the fairies. To them, she was just a friend from school, they wouldn't get too nosy, they would just be overjoyed that he was making friends.

"Trust me they think you two are much more than just friends." Constantine muttered to himself. Artemis did not hear him, but Holly did, and it left her confused.

Artemis, your parents just left, and their taking the twins." Butler stepped out of the manor through a sliding glass door.

"Perfect." Said Artemis, sitting up, his manner suddenly business like.

'Wait, what?" Asked Constantine, obviously confused.

"Every Fowl child, when they turned four, visits Paris for six weeks. It's an old tradition." He answered as if reading Constantine's mind. He reached under his lawn chair and pulled out a laptop-like machine and placed it on his lawn chair.

Holly smiled at Constantine as she sat up to look at the machine. "I know, it seems like he plans this stuff out doesn't it?"

Constantine, Holly and Artemis all huddled around the machine while Butler stood back behind them. Artemis pressed a button on the machine and it projected a screen in mid- air.

Holly looked at him. "I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that that looks a lot like fairy technology."

"Really?" asked Artemis seeming surprised. "Just a new invention of mine." He typed something onto a small keyboard and pulled up a map of what Constantine recognized as the Artic. Holly shivered at the sight of it. Constantine looked at her

"Don't like the Artic?" he asked her, his interests piqued.

"Elves don't like the cold period." She informed him. "Some of them can't even eat ice cream."

"Yes well," interrupted Artemis, "not to interrupt but we do have work to do."

"Right." Agreed Constantine, making a mental note to ask Holly about all the intricacies of life as an elf later.

"Now Constantine," began Artemis "what city was it that you went to after you woke up?"

"Yaroslavl." Constantine said. "Right there." He pointed to a spot on the map. Artemis punched in a few more keys and zoomed in on the city. " I woke up a little north of there. Here, I'll give you the coordinates."

Holly watched Constantine and Artemis speak to each like the perfect team. And for a moment, she felt jealous. Here was Constantine, Artemis' equal in everything from intellect to the control of emotions. For the first time in her life, Holly felt like she was being pushed out of the picture, and an unknown emotion erupted in her. It was something she had felt before, but did not recognize. Suddenly, it hit her, it was jealousy.

Holly was broken out of her reverie by a loud noise as a large hole ripped through Artemis' computer. She and Artemis stared at the now worthless scrap that was once a highly sophisticated computer dazed and confused, but Constantine reacted almost instantly. "Sniper fire! Get down!" he yelled, nearly picking up Artemis and Holly and pushing them towards the house. Butler was there immediately jamming the door open for them and slamming it shut behind them as another bullet smacked into the bulletproof glass doors. The glass spider-webbed out from a point in the middle of Butlers forehead. He turned around and looked at the three people standing in front of him and said five words that none of them were expecting to hear.

"The manor is under attack."


	5. The Mark

Chapter 5

"The Manor is under attack" Butler immediatley called Juliet on his walkie-talkie and started yelling at her to get down here and protect Artemis. A short "roger" came through from Juliet, Butler then started off towards the surveillance room, he was too old to take place in real combat anymore, but Juliet was more than qualified to protect his ward, plus, Holly was there too, and Constantine, both had some sort of combat training, otherwise, he never would have let Artemis out of his sight. Plus, he could set of a few of his "surprises" for the incoming guests.

Artemis stood up, graceful as ever as he watched Butler hurry off to the surveillance room, he immediately understood what was going on and also understood that it was, for the most part, out of his hands. The house was extremely well protected, and nigh impregnable, plus, battle was never his forte, Butler and Juliet could handle this easily. He sat down calmly in a leather armchair and waited for Juliet to arrive. "Well I have not heard that in a while." He opened his eyes and smirked devilishly at Holly.

"Yes, and if this one goes anything like the last one, we'll be in good shape." She said, reflecting his look right back at him. "I wonder why they've stopped firing?"

"Probably because they've realized that they can't penetrate the windows. I should know, I installed them myself" Juliet said as she walked in to the room holding a nine millimeter Beretta.

"Listening in on our conversations are we Juliet?" Holly said, as she took out her Neutrino 3000 as the weapon hummed to life.

"Yes well, adolescent flirting always amuses me." Juliet said, closing the blinds, on the windows in the room.

"Flirting? I-"

"Excuse me ladies." Interjected Artemis, having just noticed something extremely relevant. "Where's Constantine?" The two women looked about the room confused, for the ex-bounty hunter, had disappeared.

"Shit." Swore Juliet. She looked out the glass door holding her gun up by her face. Suddenly, a figure dropped down from above, with his back to them, he was dressed in a long black coat, black pants, and he was holding a gun, a very, very large revolver. The man looked back at Juliet through the window, it was Constantine, and he had a most serious look in his eye. "No way." breathed Juliet. Constantine leaned over quickly as another bullet spiderwebbed the glass on the door. Juliet started, did he just dodge the bullet? No, she thought, simple coincidence. Constantine raised the large gun he was carrying and aimed it at a tree in the woods, he fired, shocking Juliet at this random act. And as quickly as he appeared, he ran off.

Juliet opted to go after him, two people protecting the manor can no doubt be better than one. She quickly opened the door and stepped outside.

"Juliet, wait!" Holly called after her.

"Protect Artemis." she called back, and slammed the door behind her, taking off after Constantine. Leaving Artemis and Holly alone. Holly looked at Artemis confused, looking for some sort of answer in his furrowed brow, searching his eyes for an answer. They bore none, Artemis just leaned back in his armchair, lost in thought.

"Interesting," he said, more to himself than to Holly. "very interesting."

Butler studied the monitors in the surveillance room, his finger resting over the detonate button. Then he saw them, Constantine ducking behind a fountain, his happy go-lucky features shaped into that of a killer. Then he saw Juliet running after him, her gun drawn. He took his finger off the button, he couldn't detonate now, there is a very good chance that he could kill one or both of them. He just hoped they knew what they were doing. He watched as Constantine made a sudden move toward Juliet, tackling her mid-run, imploded into his back as he jumped in front of her, a cold feeling erupted in the pit of Butler's stomach as he realized that Constantine had been hit.

"Constantine!" Juliet yelled as she felt the impact of the sniper round. Push both of them down to the ground.

"I'm alright." He said, standing up and picking her up, he quickly dropped both of them behind the fountain.

"But-how?" Juliet spluttered. "_I _felt that, that was a huge bullet. I-I-" She stopped as Constantine reached behind him and pulled a flattened 50. bullet out of the fold of his coat.

"Damn straight it was." He said, wincing. "Bullet proof jacket. Hurt like hell though, felt like I was hit by a steel fisted bear." He twisted his torso, and Juliet could hear his back crack. "At least now I know where that second one is."

"Second one?" Juliet asked, still amazed at the man's resilience.

"Yeah, generally assault snipers like this work in pairs, one shooter and one spotter. I got the shooter before, now we're after the spotter."

"You got the shooter?" Juliet asked in disbelief. "How?"

"Read the path of the bullet, and fired along it." he stated simply, Juliet just shared at him, and wondered how this person could be_ human._

Constantine peered over the edge of the fountain, then ducked quickly as the marble shattered from another 50. round. "Can you cover me?" he asked. Juliet nodded. "He's in the big oak, about midway up, hidden in the leaves." She nodded again, then kneeled up over the fountain and started firing at the oak he had specified. Constantine stood up and started running at the tree in the woods, he kept his head down as he raised his gun, and he fired off three quick shots just before he disappeared into the foliage.

The snipers name was Johnny Rodriguez, he didn't know the name of the mark, he didn't know the name of his employer, he didn't know if his partner was still alive, and he didn't know whether or not the man that was firing at him was_ human._ A series of bullets ripped into the flora around him, he ducked as three bullets smacked into the branch he was sitting on. He swore as the branch fell out from beneath him.

He hit the ground rolling, and ducked deeper into the woods, no need to give that woman a few easy potshots at him. He saw a flash of a black coat duck behind a tree, and Johnny hid behind a tree opposite him. He thought the situation through: his opponent was carrying a six-shot revolver, he carried a sniper rifle, high powered, but low rate of fire. He could try to shoot through the tree, but if the man had already survived a shot to the back, that would most likely be ineffective. There was only one choice then. Johnny reached into his vest and pulled out a fragmentation grenade and pulled the pin. He reached his rifle around the tree and fired a quick shot to push the man back, then he jumped out and tossed the grenade. As he ducked back behind the tree, he saw the man toss back cylindrical, metal smoke grenade, he smiled as the smoke grenade went off by him, to late, he thought, this is over.

The explosion ripped through the forest, and Johnny waited a moment before jumping out from behind his tree with his rifle up and ready to fire. He saw the black coat billowing and fired at it, he then reloaded and fired again, Johnny kept this up until his gun was empty, the man fell to the floor, and Johnny smiled.

"Missed me." Johnny swung around and the gun was shot out of his hands. Five more shots riddled his body in his shoulders and legs. He fell back to the ground. A man stepped out of the smoke, dressed in black pants, a black shirt that looked as if it were made out of some sort of leather. His blond hair was matted with blood and he had cuts on his arms. It was his mark.

"How?" Johnny managed to groan. The mark reloaded his gun, which Johnny now noticed was a massive revolver with odd looking barrel on it, and flitted his eyes over to where Johnny was firing.

"Look over there." Johnny painfully turned his head over to where he saw the coat. As the smoke cleared he saw the coat lying on the ground, he managed to chuckle with the realization that he fell for the oldest trick in the book. His mark used the coat as a decoy to draw his fire, then circled around Johnny to get the drop on him. Oh well, Johnny reached into his vest and pulled out a small detonator, he could hear voices in the distance. The mark was screaming at him to stop. He didn't care.

"Cyonara." he whispered, and pressed the button that was attached to the 5 bars of plastic explosives around his waist.

Constantine watched as the man pulled out the detonator.

"NO!" he screamed.

"Constantine!" Constantine turned around and saw Juliet, Butler, and Holly approaching him, all of their guns were drawn.

"Get back!" he screamed at them "Get back!" he started running at his friends, the first people to show him kindness in a long time. He heard the man whisper something and felt the first ripples of the explosion ripple through the ground. He stopped running, and spread his arms as wide as he could, making himself as big a shield as he could. He looked at them as Butler realized what was happening and started to cover both Holly and Juliet. It was then that Constantine felt the explosion slam into his back, lifting him off his feet. He closed his eyes as everything went black.

**Thank you to everyone whos read so far!**

**Logan1047, everything will be explained in due time.**

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**Remember to review please! And i do not own Artemis Fowl in any way, if i did, there would be a movie already!**


	6. Faster Than a Speeding Bullet

**I do not own Artemis Fowl. **

**I do however, own Constantine. **

Chapter 6.

The first thing that surprised Constantine about coming to was the very fact that he was coming to. He had just been blow up. That kind of thing just didn't _happen. _Everything was blurry. He was having trouble opening his eyes all the way. He could see dark figures moving around amongst the blurriness. The next thing he saw was the blue. The blue was bright, moving, flowing, dancing. Then, as everything was coming into focus, the blue took form. It was blue sparks, flying across his body. Oddly enough, he wasn't concerned. It was Holly. She was healing him…..Wait a minute - how did he know that?

As Constantine regained strength, he felt a searing pain, but he contained it, and forced his eyes open. The dark shapes became people. The blue sparks went away. The ringing that had been occupying his ears subsided, and became voices. Butler, Juliet, Artemis, Holly.

"Constantine! Constantine, say something!" That was Juliet.

"He's alive, somehow." Butler.

"Yes, our guest has some curious traits about him, does he not?" Artemis

"Constantine?" Juliet again.

"Please?" That was Holly. She sounded weak.

Something about her voice willed Constantine to speak. He tried to say something comforting, something like "Hey, I'm alright, imagine that. Getting blown up. That's a new one for the scrapbook eh?" All that came out was "I'm-I'm alllllriiigggit."

Somebody let out a sigh of relief.

Artemis kneeled next to Constantine, who just realized he was laying on his side. "Holly healed you" He said. "One of the fair magics. She ran out of power before she could fully heal your wounds, but you should be alright. You need a lot of rest."

Constantine heard Holly mutter "Out of power? what am I? a lap top?" Constantine tried to laugh. It hurt to laugh.

Artemis, ignoring her, went on "We need to get you to bed, can you sit up?"

Constantine, who was feeling stronger still, managed an "I think so." But couldn't really pull it off without Artemis' help.

"How bad was I?" he asked when the vertigo went away.

"Your spine was sticking out" Juliet provided.

"That's a new one."

"You can say that again."

So he did.

Butler, tiring of this banter, and of staying in the open too long after a brazen attack on the manor, cleared his throat. "I think we should head inside, I don't like how long we've been out here."

Constantine perked up, alert. "You're right, of course" Suddenly, he froze. "Someone's here."

Butler tensed, and reached for his gun. It was too late.

A woman grabbed Holly, holding a knife to her throat. The woman was tall and lanky. she had short-cropped black hair, and was wearing camouflaged clothes. She had a huge black eye. She was the first sniper. Everyone was focusing on her. The Butler's had pulled their quicker than Artemis could follow, but they could not get a clear shot around this professional. Everyone was tense. Even Constantine had managed to stand up. The woman was livid. Or scared shitless.

You're all freaks!" She shouted. There was foam forming at the corner of her mouth. "Especially you witch. I saw that stuff you did, and I'm going to cut out your throat!"

The only thing was, she never finished "throat". If anyone had been paying any attention, they would have noticed that Constantine WAS livid. Every fiber of his face contorted into pure rage. He knew what happened, and he was cursing himself for it. He followed the bullet too perfectly. He hit the woman's gun with his bullet, giving her a black eye, but only knocking her out. It was an amateur mistake. Now it was time to make up for it.

He drew his revolver so fast, the human eye couldn't catch it. Physically, if the woman had seen him draw it, even if she had the perfect reflex time of 0.5 seconds, she couldn't have done anything about it. He was faster than Juliet. Faster than Butler. Faster than a speeding bullet. He could leap high buildings in a single bound…..

The bullet whizzed by Holly's ear, blowing what was showing of the woman's head apart. There was no woman's head. She was dead before she knew it.

Holly broke free as soon as she heard the shot and felt the woman's arm go limp. She didn't even know what happened, only her training prevented her from freaking out. She was sure she could have handled the woman if she had been full (0f magic) but she was so weakened at the moment.

Butler and Juliet instantly looked back at Constantine and saw what Artemis would, and what Holly would register, a few minutes later. Constantine was standing there, clutching his shoulder. He had actually drawn _too_ fast. reopening wounds that Holly couldn't fully heal. He was losing a lot of blood. He was panting too, He had drawn so fast it literally exhausted him. Despite it all, he was grinning, but not happily, it was slightly demonic in fact, he had impressed himself. "yep," He said. "Definitely a new one." It was with this, that he passed out again.

**More Cliffhangers!**

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	7. The Man Known as Butler

**I do not own Artemis Fowl **

**I do however own Constantine**

**If yo don't like it...tough. **

Chapter 7

Butler, ever the professional, was the first to act. He scooped up Constantine into one gigantic arm, and used his other hand to apply pressure to the wound.

"Take him to my lab," Artemis ordered, "Holly is out of magic and I have a few rudimentary medical tools there."

Butler had taken three giant strides towards Fowl Manor when Constantine muttered "No. My house. Basement. Third door on the left. You'll find everything you need there." Butler stopped and looked at Artemis, who nodded, and took off towards the Bentley, still cradling Constantine like a babe.

"I'll have to drive," Artemis told Juliet, he was already on Butler's heels, jogging to catch up. "I need you to lock down the Manor, and take care of Holly."

"I can take care of myself!" Holly said, a remarkable amount of calm in her voice. Artemis, who did not have time to argue, simply nodded, and continued after Butler. Holly followed him, leaving Juliet behind.

Juliet turned around and looked at the mess the attack had caused. A small crater on the grounds, some burning trees, a cloud of smoke that still hung in the forest and a debrained woman on the grounds. She reached into her pocket to get her cellphone and call a cleaner her and her brother new. Before she dialed though, she noticed something flapping against a tree. She walked over, still alert to the possibility of another threat, and grabbed the material. It was the coat that Constantine wore during the attack. Still completely intact. She whistled to herself, this was unbelievable. She turned, and double timed it back to the manor, taking the coat with her. She had to call the cleaner soon. This was going to be expensive.

Butler gingerly lifted a bloody Constantine out of the Bentley, surprisingly, he had't damaged the interior that badly. That was mostly because most of the blood was on Butler's suit. But he could just bill the boy. Artemis was leading the way up to Constantine's house. He had hacked the keypad lock before constantine could splutter out the numbers, and they were inside.

Artemis took a quick assessment of the place, as did Butler. Artemis, looking for the basement, Butler looking for traps. Butler knew if it came down to it, he would have to drop Constantine to protect Artemis. Artemis found the door leading to the basement, and led Butler and Holly down. He found the light-switch, flicked it, and revealed a long, brightly lit hallway. It was obvious the basement extended quite a bit out from under the actual house.

On the other side of the third door on the right was what looked like a hospital room. Everything Artemis needed was there. Despite the dire situation, Artemis could barely contain a smirk as Butler laid the wounded man down. This was going to be easier than he thought.

Butler quietly shut the door behind him as he left Artemis to his work. Holly was seated on a small, white bench outside the room. She and Butler looked at each other, Butler simply shook his head to the left once. It wasn't a negative shake. But one that held a lot of meaning. Holly knew the answer to her question already because of it. She had to ask anyway. She had to talk about it.

"What the hell is going on here, Butler?"

Butler looked at her, his face hard to read. "I really don't know. I didn't see him draw, all I heard was the shot but-" He could barely fathom it. "I don't even know how it was possible, he fired that from the hip with that revolver. Revolver's aren't nearly that accurate, and from the hip? That's the ballsiest move I've ever heard of."

Holly put one hand across her chest and around her shoulder, a surprising display of vulnerability for her. "I did see the draw, or rather, didn't see a damn thing." She was staring at the ground, looking for the answers in the lines of the white tile. "I've seen some quick draws at the academy, I even saw a guy who could fire two pulse's so fast you could only hear one. But that's just the thing, I _saw _them draw, Butler. I never saw him even twitch. One minute his hand was at his side, he looked livid…and focused, the next thing I knew there was a gunshot and the woman just went slack." She shivered. Butler put a massive, but surprisingly gentle hand on her shoulder in comfort. It nearly eclipsed half of her frame. She looked at him again. "Who were they Butler? I thought Artemis didn't have any more enemies."

Butler closed his eye's, as if to think, and said "Men like Artemis will always have enemies, and I don't know who they are, but-" He opened his eyes, and Holly saw something in them, a focus, a glint, a look that had made Domovoi Butler one of the most feared men in the underworld. One part grim determination, one part predatory thrill. It was something that belayed his age. Something she hadn't seen since he took on a troll. She shivered again. "I will find out, and whoever is behind this, they will be sorry." With that, he stood up, stooping a bit below the ceiling, and walked back up the stairs. He was going to secure the grounds, call Juliet, make sure she secured the grounds, find a way to trace the assassins that attacked them. A new sense of purpose pervaded him. Something that blocked out all else. He didn't quite feel so old anymore. He was going to go after these people, and Hell was coming with him.

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	8. Something's Missing

**Again, I do not own artemis fowl, blah blah blah, I do own constantine. Blah Blah Blah Blah. **

Chapter 8

Artemis Fowl washed his hands in a sink in the room. Constantine had fallen asleep in the hospital bed after staying awake through the whole surgery. The man had a ridiculous tolerance for pain, and it was no wonder that he was exhausted. Artemis leaned against the counter with a sigh, his silk shirt splattered with blood. He looked not unlike an upper-class serial killer. Disparaging the thought, he took the shirt off and tossed it in a bin in the corner, leaving his undershirt on. The stains would not have come out anyway.

He inspected the room he was in for the first time with a precision that rivaled Sherlock Holmes. It was, for all intents and purposes, a hospital room. It had a cupboard full of surgical instruments, all (previously) sterile. There was an EKG machine, a respirator and other various medical tools in a walk-in closet, and at the end of the closet, the oddest thing about the whole place, was a refrigerator, stocked with several pints of o-negative blood. The universal donor, also, as he had learned during the procedure, Constantine's blood type. This was obviously designed specifically for him, but by who? That notion led Artemis to believe that he could only imagine the things that have happened in the room.

Then, Artemis turned his intentions to the resting man. A lifetime of war could be seen on the scars that littered Constantine's torso, shoulders and arms. Artemis studied each one with cold precision, trying to glean something from the markings. When he was through, he shuddered at the thought of the things Constantine must have gone through. "No wonder he was tolerant to pain." Artemis thought. One particular scar interested him the most, a thin line that seemed to go all the way around Constantine's midriff, with signs of stitching around the sides of it. It appeared as if Constantine had been cut in half, and then put back together again.

Artemis, feeling a little uneasy, decided to leave the room.

Outside he found Holly sitting on a bench in the brightly lit hallway, putting on a brave face.

"Are you alright?" He asked, finally. Genuine concern showing in his voice.

"Yeah."

Artemis looked skeptic.

"I really am!" She protested. "A little razzled, but physically I'm alright, and I should be fine. It's not the first time I've been held hostage you know." She added, pointedly.

Artemis raised an eyebrow "Razzled? not exactly a medical term." He said, ignoring the hostage crack. She punched him in the shoulder. Oddly enough, he started laughing. A good belly laugh, as Artemis Sr. would have put it. Holly found herself puzzled by this, but soon, she started to laugh with him. There they were, both laughing and hysterical, so at odds with the situation. When the fit had passed them both, they felt somewhat uplifted. "Maybe laughter is the best medicine." Artemis said. "I shall have to look into it's effects in health science."

Holly shook her head, smiling still. "Arty, can you ever stop being a genius? Just for like, 2 seconds?"

Artemis smiled one of his sly, vampire smiles. "Why, no." Then, for an instant, as their eyes met, there was a connection, a spark. Something that had them both transfixed for a second, but as soon as he noticed it, Artemis went back to business. "Where's Butler?" he asked.

Holly, remembering the look in Butler's eyes, replied. "Upstairs, I think he went to secure the grounds."

"Good. Constantine said that there was a bed two doors down on the left for you if you needed to lie down, and the bathroom is upstairs to your right."

"How is he, anyway?"

"Alright. He is slightly battered, and he is exhausted, but he should be fine."

"Good. There is one thing that's bothering me, though."

"What is it?"

"I know we're connected somehow. He had my dog tags and- I don't know, but every time I look at him there's something in the back of my mind that tell's me we've met. It's right on the tip of my tongue, but I can't quite grasp it. Something longing to get out."

Artemis thought for a moment. "You have a longing whenever you look at him? Miss Short, are you sure you are not going through puberty?"

She punched him, hard this time.

"I only jest." He said, rubbing his shoulder.

"And I'm only _jest _ about to put my boot up your ass." She muttered.

"But you are right of course." He went on, ignoring her. "There is something missing, I've thought that for a while now. Thing's are not adding up. You should go back to Haven, and talk to Foaly face to face about this."

"I was about to suggest the same thing. I'll leave as soon as I get my things." Holly started walking towards the stairs.

"Do you need me to drive you back to the manor?" Artemis asked.

Holly thought for a moment. "No." She said. "I think I'll run back, I could use it." She continued up the stairs and said back. "I'll be back tonight."

"No." Artemis said. "Come back tomorrow night, it's a full moon and you can perform the ritual before you get here."

Holly, who had stopped, nodded, and threw back a goodbye before she disappeared up the stairs. Leaving Artemis to watch her go.

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	9. Cathedral of Deceit

**I do not own Artemis Fowl **

**Holly: I do. **

**Me:...What. **

**Holly: Keep writing, you'll figure it out. **

**Me:...WHAT?**

Chapter 9.

Artemis walked up the stairs in silence, milling things over in his head. When he reached the main part of the house again he saw Butler sitting at the counter that separated a kitchen from an eating area. Butler was cleaning a large automatic rifle with a purposeful intent. Artemis did not even want to know where he had retrieved it from. Artemis also noticed an open laptop on the counter, with a four-way screen that glowed with the faint luminescence of surveillance cameras. Artemis thought it was good to know Butler was on top of things. The recent attack seemed to bring new life into the old giant.

The kitchen itself was fairly modern, black marble countertops and white wooden cupboards. The counter that Butler sat at was also black marble and jutted out from the wall to act like a partition. The room itself connected to a den, with doorways from the den and the kitchen leading into other parts of the house. The den was an odd mix of modern and traditional. It had white walls, like the rest of the house, and wood floors. There was a throw rug in the middle, on top of which there was an iron and glass coffee table. Around it were two medium-sized sofas, made of black leather, which were facing a brick fireplace. There was a large, 42-inch flat screen television mounted over the mantlepiece.

Artemis went to a stainless steel fridge in the kitchen and looked inside. There were general foodstuffs, enough to last a single man about a week, Artemis surmised. But one thing that caught his eye was a half-empty bottle of Port. He pulled it out.

" '76, my our friend does have exquisite tastes." He started rummaging through drawers looking for a corkscrew.

"Yes, there appear to be many things about our friend that we do not know." Butler put the rifle back together and looked at Artemis. "Are you sure you should be doing that?"

"Oh, yes, before he went to sleep Constantine assured me that 'mi casa es su casa.'" Artemis said, finding the corkscrew.

"Yes but if you drink a man's Port, he's liable to take it personally." Artemis smiled at his oldest friend, and pulled out the cork. He offered some to Butler, who politely refused, and then poured himself a glass. "So he's asleep. "

Artemis leaned against the refrigerator, gently sipping the wine. "Yes, but I have no doubt he should be awake soon, he has amazing recuperative capabilities. Have you communicated with Juliet?"

"Yes."

"What is she doing?"

"She has locked down the estate, and she's called a cleaner we know to come take care of the mess. Also, she has collected a few of Constantine's things that he left behind, namely his gun and his coat."

"The same cleaner who dealt with our doors after the troll fiasco?"

"Yes."

"Good, have her bring the items over to me as soon as possible, I wish to examine them."

"Alright." Butler brought a walkie talkie that he pulled out of his jacket to his cheek.

"Also, have her bring over one of my new suits, this one has been absolutely ruined."

"Yes sir."

Artemis remained where he was for quite some time, sipping his wine his brow furrowed in deep thought. Listening to what Butler was saying to Juliet, and, when that was finished, simply thinking about what was to happen next. Butler noticed his charge in thought and decided not to interrupt him. He silently got up, and went off to patrol the grounds, leaving his charge with his wine.

Artemis was vaguely aware that Butler had left, No doubt to patrol the grounds. When he finished his wine, he left the glass on the counter and went back downstairs. He wanted to explore a little bit, and see what secrets the house had to offer. What else was this largely unassuming house hiding beneath it's depths? In a way it reflected the man himself, Artemis thought.

The first door on the left opened easily, on greased hinges. Inside it were twelve cots, all perfectly made, all looked untouched for years. The room itself was big and plain. Artemis stored the number of cots in his head and left. To his right was another door, but it was locked, and Artemis would not be so presumptuous to pick it, maybe if he had been younger. The second door on the left opened easily as well, but was only a closet full of cleaning supplies. This annoyed Artemis somewhat, the suspense had anticipation building in his chest, and that was a thorough anti-climax.

The door directly across from the Hospital room opened to reveal a workout room. It was large and well stocked with machines, weights, a few heavy bags, and an equal number of speed bags. In the corner of the room were several heavy bags that had been punched into a shade of their former self, deflated with sand pouring out of curiously fist-sized holes.

Artemis closed this door behind him silently as he stepped out of the room. Everything was getting curiouser and curiouser, but one thing was plain to him: The house was not built to be used by only one man. It could hold thirteen at it's maximum, and the inner working seemed to be largely under the house, the building itself simply a facade.

The next few doors were mundane, a boiler room, another closet and a bathroom. But the next room piqued Artemis' interest. When he opened the door he found another hallway, when he walked down it he came to a flight of stairs. The general atmosphere changed greatly here. White drywall was replaced with stone and mortar. Artemis felt like he was descending into some gothic cathedral. At the bottom of the stairway was an arch and a large wooden door with a brass handle. Above the arch in ornate gold lettering read the words "Knowledge is Power". Artemis thought there was something off about the gold paint, when he realized it wasn't gold paint at all, but gold leaf, delicately applied to the stone. Intrigued, Artemis could barely contain his amazement as he went to open the door, but contain it he did. He was still Artemis Fowl, after all.

The inside could only be described as beautiful. It was a huge library, built from stone in the fashion of a gothic cathedral. It looked, from the inside to be as tall as Notre Dame, but Artemis knew this to be impossible for they could not be more than a hundred feet below ground. The walls were lined with wooden bookshelves filled to the brim with books. Between each shelf was a computer, all at least thirteen years old, only one had a computer updated to the present standards. There was a gold and diamond chandelier, an absolutely massive thing, hanging from the peak. But the most amazing thing about the place was that it had _windows. _Each window had light streaming in, but from where Artemis knew not, for he was sure that they were still below ground.

Artemis let out a breath in wonder. He slowly turned around in the hall, taking it all in.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Artemis recognized Constantine's voice, and turned around. Constantine was standing in the archway, looking at Artemis with a knowing smile. His blonde hair had fallen into his face, he was slightly hunched, leaning against the archway and he still had gauze and bandages wrapping around his arm to his shoulder, down and around his back, under his left armpit and back across his chest. There was an odd look in his face too, Artemis thought, but he couldn't quite identify it. It looked…._tired. _But not in the idea that he did not get enough sleep. It looked deeper than that. Constantine looked like a man on the edge, some stubble had grown across his chin, his eye sockets were sunken in, his cheeks looked shallow and taut. He looked remarkably like Butler did on his bad days. but there was something there, something in the eyes, a spark of life, a small shit eating grin that one would see on a boxer right before he broke three of your ribs. It was the only thing that betrayed life and determination in the man. It was then in the odd light of the library that Artemis noticed Constantine's body again. Not just the grim scars that road-mapped across his torso, but the sheer muscle that bound the man. Constantine appeared to not have a percent of body fat. Not only could Artemis pick out the muscle fibers in Constantine's chest, but in his abs as well. Each muscle looked like it was carved from wood, and the general shape of his body was an impressive V. Narrow at the hips, broad shoulders, broad back, big arms; Artemis suddenly understood the punching bags in the corner. He imagined that when constantine moved or fought his muscles would resemble tectonic plates shifting under leather.

Artemis took all this in in mere seconds, not missing a beat from Constantine's question. "Yes, it is. Did you build it?"

Constantine looked around the library, as if studying it for the first time. He stepped into the room slowly "Maybe." he said. "When I woke up, there was a tattoo on my back with a bank account number and code to a swiss bank account. When I got there, I got all the information I needed, bank statements around the world, passports, cash, numbers of contacts I no longer remembered and the deed to this house. When I came here I found it like this. I've lived here ever since." He looked at Artemis again, somewhat wistful now. "The bank account no longer exists, and I've long since had the tattoo lasered off, so there is no use checking there."

"Where does the light come from?"

Constantine smiled. "That was my own design. A lighting device that mimics sunlight and projects the weather outside through the windows. It makes the room quite less gloomy, I think. "

"Yes, but all the more austere." Artemis replied. He had composed himself, his hands behind his back, a grin with a hint of vampire across his visage. "How did you know I was down here?"

"You left the door open. When I woke up I noticed it and figured somebody was down here, so I came to check." Constantine explained.

"Ah." An awkward silence fell between the two. Each person just looking at the other. Until Artemis said, "I am sure that Juliet has returned with both mine and your things, we should go back up." Constantine agreed, and they left the amazing room.

**Please Read and Review. I really appreciate your input. **

**HollyArtyFoeva: Don't worry, you'll get more of that later. **

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	10. Jesus Christ is in Heaven Now

**I do not own Artemis Fowl. **

**Holly: I do. **

**Me: That again? what the hell, Artemis, talk some sense into her. **

**Artemis: Leave me out of this. **

**Me:Thanks a bunch. **

**Holly: you'll figure it out.**

**Me: WHAT DO YOU MEANNNN?**

Chapter 10

When they reached the top of the stairs, the pair saw Juliet and Butler waiting for them.

"Glad to see you're alright." Juliet said as soon as she saw them.

"Thanks." Both Artemis and Constantine responded. They looked at each other. Juliet flushed.

"Do you have my clothes Juliet?" Artemis asked after a moment, breaking an awkward silence.

"Yes, and I have some things for you, Constantine." Juliet replied, regaining her composure. She put a black duffel bag out onto the counter and opened it. She pulled out a perfectly folded shirt and trousers, and a suit coat. After that she pulled out Constantine's coat and gun. She wielded the revolver carefully, as if she was having trouble lifting it. Constantine immediately walked over and took them both from her without saying a word. He was still wearing the same pants that he did during the fight, and around his waist was a lopsided belt holding a holster. He checked the gun's magazine, twirled it around his finger, and slipped it into the holster with a satisfying _schick. _It was an impressive display.

"Actually, if I may, I would like to borrow that, and your coat, please." Artemis said.

Constantine hesitated, Artemis thought for a minute that he wouldn't part with them, but then Constantine pulled out the gun and gave both it and the coat to Artemis. "What are you going to do with them?"

"Study them." Artemis said plainly. "They might hold some clue to your past." _Some clue? _Artemis thought. _My, I have gone soft; I sound like a 60's cartoon. Next thing you know I'll be saying things like "groovy" and "Jinkies". _

_ "_Then the coat won't help you." Constantine said, breaking Artemis out of his reverie.

"Why not?" Artemis silently reprimanded himself for sounding petulant.

"The coat was made only several years ago, by my wife. It has no history." Artemis gave the coat back to its owner.

"Then the revolver might hold a secret."

"Yes, it might." Constantine walked over to the couch and flopped down on it while grabbing a remote and turning on the T.V. Artemis winced at the thought of his wounds hitting the leather.

"Do you want to help?" Artemis asked.

Constantine waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, what can I do that I haven't already? You can use the library downstairs if you want though, and any other tools you think you might need should be in one of the closets."

"Actually I was going to go back to the manor. I have some very specialized tools there." Artemis said this, realizing he had sent Juliet for his clothes for nothing. He would apologize to her later. "Apologize?" Artemis thought to himself. "Gods what has the elf done to me?" as he thought that, it occurred to him. "The elf? why would I contribute all of my change to Holly? has she really influence me that much?" _yes _a little voice in his head whispered back to him. He mentally shook the voice off, no need to lose it now.

"Alright, will you need me for anything?"

"No, I shouldn't, just stay near your phone."

Constantine yawned. "Will do."

"I'll contact you tonight if I find something, if not, then tomorrow when Holly gets back from Haven."

Constantine said nothing, so Artemis motioned to his bodyguards and the trio began to leave. Artemis looked back at Constantine before they left and noticed he was asleep. He shook his head and left without a word.

Artemis and Butler sat in Artemis' study, an array of tools splayed out in front of them. Juliet was outside the manor, standing guard. In the center of the desk was Constantine's revolver. Only under study did Artemis and Butler realize what an odd instrument it was. Standard 6-shot, .45 magnum bullets, with a lever-based reloading mechanism. When it was opened (which it did on a large, round hinge that jutted out in front of the trigger-guard) the bullets in the magazine would spring out. Butler informed Artemis that this wasn't standard procedure for any type of gun that he knew of. In addition to this, even though most revolver barrels weren't housed, this one had a large, rectangular housing that hung down the height of the magazine, with the end of the barrel jutting a millimeter out of the case. It was long, and when Artemis opened it the ejection mechanism was held inside. The most curious thing, though, was the etching on the outside of the case. In large, loopy handwriting were the words:

_Jesus Christ is in Heaven Now_

Artemis sat back and looked at his bodyguard, who looked, for once, as clueless as Artemis. Neither of them had ever seen anything like it.

"What the hell does this mean, Domovoi?"

Butler looked at his charge, knowing the only reason he swore was because he was so vexed by the puzzle. "I don't know Artemis. I will call some of my connections and see if they know anything about a gun like this."

"Yes, good Idea." He had thought of that already. "But for the moment, I think we should get some rest, tell Juliet to come inside as well. I doubt we'll be attacked tonight again, no doubt whoever sent the hit team does not even know its failed yet." They both left the room, with Butler starting to make the call, Artemis looked once back at the gun, the words gleaming back at him.

_Jesus Christ is in Heaven Now_

**_Geez, i never thought writing these filler chapters would be the hard ones. _**

**_I know they're kind of boring, but these are important plot points so bear with me everyone. _**

**_as always, please read and review. _**

**_More suspense next chapter._**

**_Pearlgirl: There are some similarities, I was developing this plot when the movies were coming out, and there are only so many ways one could create this character. it just worked. _**

**_Keep reading, thanks for your support!_**


	11. Hidden Things Beneath the Surface

**I do not own Artemis **

**Holly: I-**

**Me: I have the power to make your life a living hell.**

**Holly:...I'll be quiet. **

**Me: Good. **

Chapter 11

"WHAT!" Foaly screamed. Holly nearly jumped 3 feet in the air, quite a feat when you're only three feet tall to begin with. Holly had just finished explaining to Foaly what had happened, not that he hadn't seen the whole ordeal from satellite anyway, but he couldn't see what went on in Constantine's house. His current reaction was to Holly telling him that she was going to go back the next night.

"What's the big deal? We've been in life and death situations before, and it's not like we can't handle it." She said. Foaly had been acting oddly jumpy lately, and she didn't know why. When she came into the ops booth, there was a strong smell of coffee in the air. Foaly almost never drank coffee, and only would if something was bothering him greatly, and he had been up all night, or for a few nights, as the case may be, trying to solve the problem. The last time he drank coffee Artemis had hacked into his system and posted a looping video of some vulgar cartoon mooning the viewer onto Foaly's screen, and Foaly couldn't get it off for two days. Who says the mud-boy doesn't have a sense of humor?

"Yes but we never INTENTIONALLY put ourselves into harms way! Not just to help a couple of mud-men find themselves! Usually we have to save the fairies, or save the humans, or better yet, BOTH!"

Holly got defensive. "Artemis is our friend! Not just some mud-man anymore! He's helped us on more occasions than you can count and he's someone I trust!"

"But why are you helping Constantine? Why didn't you just wipe him and send him on his way?"

"I told you why! Artemis wouldn't let me, and I very well can't go doing so now after he just saved my life. What kind of crappy person would I be?" Holly's voiced was raised now, and people walking by the mirror that was actually the ops booth's 1-way soundproof window, were starting to wonder why their reflections were shouting at them.

"I've had enough of this, I'm calling Vinyaya." Foaly declared.

"Fine! Call her!" Holly's voice cracked, her eyes were starting to water. Foaly was supposed to be her best friend. They weren't supposed to fight, not like this. She didn't know what had gotten into him. Even in some of her direst moments, he always trust her decision making, her intuition, but this time it seemed like he thought it was too dangerous for her, like she didn't know what she was getting into. It seemed like…..like….

"What do you know?" She asked him when he put down the phone. He looked at her oddly, then quickly looked away.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean." She moved to come between him and his computer, and put her hand on his shoulder. It wasn't a threatening gesture, but a loving one. Her trying to reconnect with him, like through that contact everything would suddenly become clear, and they would start clicking again, just like they always had. "What's got you so worried?"

Foaly looked into her eyes for a moment. She could see the confusion there, the struggle. It was like he was struggling against something unseen, some great inner battle happening within him, and she could see the wreck and carnage displayed through his eyes. "He's…He's dangerous, Holly."

"Who is, Foaly? Artemis? But we know him, he-"

"Not Artemis!" Foaly's voice was strained now, and sweat was beading across his brow, his face heavily lined. "In fact, if this goes bad stay close to Artemis, he may be the only one who can save you." He had grabbed her shoulders. As if he were trying to convey some message of which he had been sworn to silence.

Holly was confused. "Then Constantine? But he saved my life Foaly, and besides that-" She looked away from him. "I feel something about him, it's odd, I can't shake the feeling that I know him from somewhere. It's a nagging at the back of my head, a monster at the gate, but I don't know what it is." She looked back at him, a pleading in her eyes. "What is it, Foaly? What are you trying to tell me?"

Foaly hesitated. "Holly-"

"That's quite enough, Foaly." Vinyaya walked into the ops booth. Holly composed herself immediately, that side of herself was for only the select few to see. Vinyaya was well outside of those few. Foaly had a little more trouble than Holly composing himself, but he managed to pull it together.

"Yes commander."

"What was it you wanted to speak to me about?" Vinyaya asked, emotionless. Holly nearly shivered.

Foaly didn't hesitate. "You remember the attack on Fowl Manor earlier in the day?"

Vinyaya nodded. "Yes."

"Holly has returned from the field, and has requested to go back tomorrow night. I strongly suggest that you prevent her from-"

Vinyaya held up her hand, stopping him. She walked over to Holly, and a warmth spread across her face with a smile. "You may go tomorrow, major, but now I think it would be prudent for you to go home and get some rest. I do expect you to be in for work tomorrow morning however."

Holly nodded, struck by this unexpected turn of events. "Yes commander."

"Now go." Holly left.

Foaly watched his best friend leave before saying anything. "Commander! you can't let her go!" He exploded.

Vinyaya waited, watching the door where Holly had left for a moment. Then she spoke, quietly, deliberately. "If we let her go now, then we placate her. If we don't, then she'll only seek the truth herself. If she does that, she'll most definitely find it."

"Maybe the truth needs to be found." Foaly said through gritted teeth.

VInyaya ignored him. "Will his memories come back?"

"There's no way to know. We never wiped him. Hell, we don't even know if his memories are gone or if he just has some anterior motive."

"If they are gone?"

"Amnesia is not like our memory suppression, the brain cells have certain connections broken through trauma, emotional or physical. If it's emotional, then it is actually like our suppression techniques, as the brain walls off memories to protect itself. If it's physical, then who knows when they'll come back. If the cells realign, or his memory is jogged enough, the could come back just like that." He snapped his fingers. "Or they may never come back, it's all up to chance."

"And if they aren't gone?"

Foaly breathed. "Then he's probably going to kill us all."

**ooooooh D:**

**Things are starting to be revealed...sort of. **

**I am having fun with this. **

**Temly76: Don't worry, that image will soon start to go down the toilet as things get on a role. **

**Everyone else, Please read and review :) **


	12. Scary, Scary

**I do not own Artemis Fowl. **

**Constantine belongs to me. **

**ALL MINE. MUAHAHAHAHAHAH**

**Constantine: You have some issues, dude. **

**Me: Eat me. **

Chapter 12

Holly slammed the door to her apartment. She was mad at Foaly for not telling her the truth. She was mad at the commander for keeping the truth from her. She was mad that they were treating her like she was a kid who wanted to sit at the adult table, but wasn't quite old enough. It was more insulting to her than that, though. She _used _to be old enough, she was a major for Frond's sake! A week ago the commander wouldn't make a move without consulting her! And now she was just another foot soldier, a grunt. Root, never treated her that way.

She stopped and reprimanded herself, getting herself a canned juice smoothie from her refrigerator. She had just done what she promised herself she would never do: compare Commander Root, her friend, to the new administration. It was insulting to the former commander, making an excuse out of him for her not to do her work.

Feeling worse than she originally did she sat down on her couch and opened the can. It was banana-mango flavored, and as she drank it, she mused that she had never actually had a real mango or a banana. Sure she'd had the sim-fruits you could buy at the supermarket, but never had she had an actual fresh mango or banana. She thought that it would taste delicious, maybe she could ask Artemis for them.

_Artemis._

She was thinking about him again. She found she was thinking about him more and more, and more and more about how their relationship had changed over the years. She had hated him at one point. She thought he was an evil child obsessed with gold and success, a monster, but then she saw something else in him, something that made him seem oddly _human, _and then she saw something that made him seem like a person. She watched him grow into a responsible, decent, young boy, determined to do the right thing, or at least try.

She laughed as she took another swig of the smoothie. "Young man, really." She thought to herself. Then she thought about what Foaly said. "If things go bad, stay close to him." He was right, of course, that much she knew. From experience more than just Foaly telling her. When things went bad, try to avoid it, if you couldn't, then the best thing to do was stay close to Artemis, he generally had a plan to get you out of it. He had saved her life before.

She felt warm in her chest. It was the same feeling she felt when she was with him. It chased the coldness she felt from her treatment at the hands of her colleagues away. It wasn't the warm and fuzzies, she'd felt the warm and fuzzies before, when her dad first told her he was proud of her. That was a feeling she would never forget, that love she felt for the most important man in her life. Though it was warm, and it was nice, the feeling that, despite everything, there was someone that she could trust implicitly, and would never try to hurt her.

She smiled at the thought and finished the drink. She turned on her television and curled up with a blanket, unzipping the top part of her jumpsuit so she was just wearing her white tank top and the pants of her jumpsuit, feeling warm and nice under the blanket, with some romantic soap opera playing on the T.V.

She had no intention of falling asleep there, but she felt so comfortable, and it had been such a trying day, that she couldn't help but to drift off.

The Next Day.

Holly awoke with a start, and in a cold sweat. She immediately checked the clock on her T.V. 5:30. Good. That mean she had a half hour to think before she actually had to get up. She had managed to wake up a half hour before she had to, and she knew why. She had had nightmares the entire night, and woke up once or twice. She woke up again because of a Nightmare, but didn't even bother going back to sleep this time.

The one good thing about the nightmares, though, is they made her think. They had all been about Foaly, VInyaya, Constantine and Artemis. It was all murky, Foaly and VInyaya were hiding things from her, they were a gigantic two faced monster. Constantine had kidnapped her, and was holding her hostage until the fairies would return his memories. Then Constantine turned into Artemis, who took care of her, and healed her with fairy magic. They were fighting trolls on an arctic cliff. She woke up when she and Artemis were crossing a gorge on a suspended cable car and a heat seeking missile had been fired at them from somewhere. The last thing she saw was Artemis climbing out the window of the metal car, knowing his heat would draw the missile away from her, he looked back at her with a smile, and jumped.

That was what made her wake up. She pulled the blanket she had around her shoulders and sat up with her arms around her knees. She knew something was wrong. It wasn't the dreams that bothered her particularly, She had long since grown out of nightmares scaring her. It was the secrets that Foaly and Vinyaya were were keeping. She didn't know what it was, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it. She couldn't break into the LEP's secret files without leaving a trace, but she knew a certain Irishman who could.

LEP Command Headquarters, Police Plaza.

Willow Berry didn't exist. Her files had been wiped by Foaly under Commander Vinyaya's orders. If Holly Short was the LEP's golden girl, Willow was their dark horse. In the Academy she excelled, passing her marksmanship, hand to hand combat, and stealth skills tests with flying colors. Unfortunately for her, her excellence also exiled her, she was a social outcast with few friends but she didn't care. She joined the LEP to protect and serve, and if the other students couldn't hack it, well then she didn't give a damn what they thought of her.

When she graduated from the academy she was approached by Commander Vinyaya, who asked her if she wanted to join a new covert special operations division. She was honored to be asked to, and agreed to immediately. She knew what it really was, it was the jobs that no one else wanted to do. The jobs that the LEP weren't supposed to be behind. The jobs that the press weren't supposed to know about. She didn't care. They were jobs that had to be done. She knew this. So she didn't ask questions.

Her meeting with Foaly and Vinyaya happened in the early hours of the morning. They always did. Dark hallways, windowless rooms, a single light hanging down from the ceiling, these things had no effect on her anymore.

Willow took her seat across the table from Vinyaya. Foaly was sitting next to Vinyaya with a wafer-thin laptop open in front of him. It's screen glowed eerily on his face. He didn't look at her, but Vinyaya did, Vinyaya always looked at her with those cool, emotionless eyes that so contrasted with the warm smile she always wore on her face. Willow got the feeling that, amongst all of the Commander's subordinates, except perhaps Foaly, she knew the Commander the best. The commander had been giving her orders for 3 years now, and every time she looked at Willow with those eyes, and they never failed to give her the chills.

Vinyaya smiled that warm, fake smile at her. "Hello Major Willow." Yep, she was a major, with no underlings. The title had been bestowed upon her so that if she ever did get entangled with the LEP regulars, which occasionally happened due to the tightness of time that she sometimes had to reach target in, she could rank her way out of trouble, and be gone before the poor, bumbling captain or corporal could call back and figure out why the hell there was an officer there without somebody could tell _him _about it. Like _he _mattered.

"Good morning Commander, Foaly." Foaly ignored her, the elf creeped him out, and what was worse was she knew it, and took every chance to scare the piss out of him that she could get. Willow smiled at her own depraved game. "You have a new target for me?"

"Yes." The Commander slid a file across the table. "A human, living in Ireland."

Willow didn't open the folder. "Artemis Fowl?" Of course she knew about Artemis Fowl, everyone knew about Artemis fowl.

"No, but close though."

"What is his name?"

"That is irrelevant."

Willow recognized this tone in Vinyaya, it was the same tone she took when Willow received her first target, and had asked what the target had done. It had been irrelevant. That was not Willow's job. Her job was, as it has been put, to do or die. She would always do. "Armed?"

"Probably."

"Dangerous."

"Always." Willow looked at Vinyaya, whose steely eyes forced her to look away.

"Alright, I'll leave as soon as possible."

"10 minutes." This was Foaly, speaking without looking up from his laptop. "There is an unregistered shuttle, fully stocked, just for you, leaving for Tara in 10 minutes." The sarcasm in his voice was more than apparent, and made a slight whistling noise as it died in the air.

"Yes sir." She ignored the sarcasm and picked up the file. She got up to leave when the Commander stopped her.

"Major."

"Yes?" Willow looked back at the Commander, whose smile had dropped from her face. The same steely eyes were there, but this time Willow couldn't turn away.

"He can see through your shield, be quick about it."

"Y-Yes sir." Willow managed to tear herself away from the Commander's gaze and left the room.

After she left, both Willow and Foaly said the same thing.

"Creeps me the fuck out."

**Please Read and Review!**

**I've only been getting one a chapter recently and its making me sad :'(**

**Constantine: Again with the issues. **

**Me: Again, with the Eat me. **

**Summerful: Thanks for all the support! and sorry about the length between updates, I've been really busy lately. Keep Reading!**

**3 to all my readers. **


	13. What Do You Protect?

**I don't own Artemis Fowl. **

**He's not even in this chapter. **

Chapter 13.

Willow was in her pod in 5 minutes. The guards didn't even see her enter, they weren't supposed to. All they knew was that a shuttle was leaving soon and they weren't to stop it, or even know who was on it. The shuttle itself, as Foaly had promised, was decked out with state of the art weaponry, all of which was unmarked, and untraceable. She could have easily just stolen this off of the production line. She took a Tri-barrelled Proton 4500 out of the weapons locker and it hummed to life, registering Willow's fingerprint as it's true owner. She smiled at the humming noise the charged plasma emitted, she liked this one.

Going to the control console, she opened the file the commander had given her. The picture was of a human male, probably in his mid 20's, (Willow allowed herself a short chuckle about the laughable lifespan of mud-men.) with blonde hair and blue eyes. She memorized the features of the man immediately, sparing for a second the thought that he looked as gentle as could be in the picture. She threw the thought away as quickly as it had come, though, knowing that appearances could be more than deceiving, they could be deadly.

She quickly went through the file, memorizing every piece of information that was to be had on the man. It wasn't much, and there were a lot of black bars censoring things that she didn't have to know, but it was enough to complete the job she had to do. Closing the file, she powered on the shuttle, and, maneuvering the flaps, took off up the chute. There was no Foaly buzzing in her ear, she didn't eve get a helmet. It was all set up so that if she were caught, there would be absolutely nothing leading her back to the People, or the LEP. Including a cyanide pill and an acid pack in her shimmer suit that would release should her vitals flatline.

Ireland, she smiled to herself as she thought about it, Ireland was one of her favorite places on top of the earth, with it's lush green hills, forests, and blue oceans. Maybe one day, when she saved enough money, she would bring her baby brother there. Maybe one day….

Willow wasn't exactly the heartless bitch that everyone thought she was. When she was young, her and her brother were constantly beat by their deadbeat parents, so much so that her brother was actually paralyzed from the waist down. When Willow was old enough, she took her brother and ran, and never looked back. She saw her brother through school while making her own way through college, and eventually the police academy. The real reason she took the job they offered her was that it payed better. It was ridiculously hard to take care of her handicapped brother and herself on her own. No one would hire him, and she wouldn't even let him look for a job when he was in school. Her hands and feet bore the marks of the long nights she spent working for them.

When she got to the Tara shuttle port, it was busy as always, and she blended right in. Except to one unfortunate sprite who got three of his fingers broken when he tried to grope her butt. She slipped out with her wings like she was never there to begin with.

She flew in silence, heading towards the coordinates of the target. It was relaxing to her, and put her in the right mindset. Calm, collected, she didn't like what she was about to do, but it had to be done. For the good of the People.

It took her a few hours to reach her destination, and the sun was just coming up, it was perfect. She could kill the man in his sleep, and be gone before anyone would know any better.

The house wasn't even defended, it was a plain, two story house surrounded by woods. It was almost too easy. She flew from branch to branch, scouring the outside for the man's bedroom window. Finally she found it, it had a _balcony. _ A sickeningly pretty white thing that overlooked a back yard. With an ornately carved wooden fence. She landed soundlessly on the balcony and looked in the window, wary, because the last words the commander had said sell rang in her ears. But all her care was for naught, the mud man wasn't in his bed. Willow was surprised for a moment, mud men usually didn't wake up this early, but it wasn't completely unheard of. There was something in the room that caught her eye though, it was on an old wooden desk, a black box, closed with a lock, with a syringe and tourniquet lying next to it. The syringe had the remains of something green inside of it. Willow shook her head, mud drugs were getting odder and odder.

The sound of a door opening and closing caused willow to whip her head around. He was outside. She quickly alighted to the roof, remembering to stay hidden, and pulled out her Proton 4500. She crawled towards the front of the house, where the sound had come from. WHen she got there, she saw him, the man with the spiky blonde hair and blue eyes walking out to the lawn in a tank top and black sweatpants. Immediately she couldn't stand him. Something about the way he stood, the way he carried himself, basking in the rising sun, despite the bandages around his arm and chest, like some sort of damned prince. Like he understood everything so much goddamned better than everyone else! She hated people like that. Always condescending, always looking down on her and her brother! She aimed her gun, ready to annihilate one more scumbag.

"When are you going to show yourself?"

She froze. He said it so simply, like he knew she was there, but that was impossible! His back had been to her this whole time.

Slowly, he turned towards here, his eyes completely, and violently blue."I already know you're there." She swore, he could see her! He had the eyes of the devil and could see her! Without another moment's hesitation she fired.

She missed.

It was more like he dodged, but the end result was the same.

He moved quicker than she thought could have been possible, and she only managed to fire two more shots, which missed, before he started scaling the house. Grabbing onto gutters, ledges and other outcrops and using them as handholds with incredible dexterity. Willow believed the mud men called this parkour.

When the target reached the roof she fired one more shot, which disappeared into the trees, and in two steps he was beside her, his massive hand grabbing her head and picking her up like a rag doll. The impact forced her to drop her gun, but he didn't stop moving. She felt him jump from the roof, and throw her across the lawn before he had hit the ground. She skidded along to a stop and was dazed and disoriented. Willow managed to pull herself up and look at the man. He was also dragging himself up from ducking and rolling as soon as he hit the ground.

She pulled a knife out of her boot and charged at him, blue sparks flying behind her as her magic healed her bruises and cuts. She planned to take him by surprise and bury the knife under his ribs, scoring a lethal hit. She was soon within range. She had him. She swung the knife.

He caught it.

The blade slipped between his fingers and he caught her fist. He quickly struck her wrist, breaking it and making sure that she dropped the blade.

Willow yelped and jumped several feet back, her magic quickly repairing the damaged bone. She eyed him, carefully, recalling something from the file she had read on him: _is known to have mastered several martial arts disciplines. _ She had to suprpess a smirk. "Well," she thought to herself. "so have I, fairy and human. So I guess it just comes down to this."

She quickly struck, and he just as quickly parried it, countering with his own fist, which she parried. They both traded blows for a minute, neither one of them landing a hit, till she saw an opening in his torso, no doubt left open due to his inexperience in fighting someone her size, and took it, striking a huge blow to his midsection. He doubled over and Willow smirked, the fight was over. It wasn't a punch she threw, but a jab, it would hurt like hell and should incapacitate him. Suddenly he swung, and a powerful fist connected with her gut. She puked blood, and could feel the magic in her, desperately trying to repair several ruptured organs. She managed to look up at him, who was now looking at her with those pale blue eyes. There was no joy in victory on his face, only pain. She reached out and put her hand on his neck, trying to strangle him in one last-ditch effort, when she saw the difference, her hand was puny in compared to his neck, there was no way she could silence him.

"Ah, there's the rub." He whispered, and slammed a fist into her chin. She blacked out.

Constantine stood up and arched backwards so his head was looking at the blueing sky. Damn, he had left that spot open on purpose, so that she'd leave an opening, but that freaking hurt! He looked back at her lying motionless on the ground, blue sparks flying about her mouth, repairing a broken jaw. Constantine winced, maybe he overdid that last punch a little too much. He had to be sure to knock her out though, if that fight had carried on any longer one of them might have been seriously injured.

He sat down in the grass next to her, knowing she'd be awake soon. He just counted himself lucky that he had taken the Jumper when he first woke up, or he would be bleeding all over the place from his previous wounds.

The elf woman stirred a bit. He watched her as she opened her green eyes. She groaned seeing him.

"What the hell happened."

"My physical size over-powered you. In pure skill we are near-even, but I'm over twice your size, your body just could not compete."

"I figured _that _out dumbass." Ah, the gift of tongues was a wonderful thing. "I meant why am I not dead?" She still couldn't really move, but she managed to look at him straight on. He was looking at her with an innocently surprised look on his face. That gentleness she saw in his photo was there again.

"Why should you be?"

She wondered at him. "I tried to kill you?"

"On someone's orders, no doubt."

This was getting ludicrous. "Don't you even want to know who it was?"

"Who was it?" He was smiling at this point, a sincere, playful smile.

She glared at him. "Bite me." Ah, the gift of tongues again.

"See? you're not gonna tell me, and I don't have it in me to torture you, so what would be the point of killing you?"

"So I don't come back."

"But we already went over this, someone sent you, if you died, they would probably send someone else. So to kill you would just be needless blood on my hands."

Magic had restored mobility to Willow, and she sat up next to the mud man. He smiled at her. She looked away, blushing. What was with this mud man? A fighter one minute, and a pacifist the next?

"Tell me something." He said, she looked at him, and noticed a much more serious expression on his face. "Who do you fight for?"

"What do you mean?"

"Someone who fights with the same fervor that you exhibited is generally one of two people, either someone who loves fighting for fightings sake, or someone who is fighting to protect someone, or something."

She turned away from him, refusing to answer, but thinking of her brother.

"Oh come on, don't be like that!" He was smiling again, she could tell by his tone of voice. "Either way, know this," He was holding his hand in front of his face, as if he were inspecting it. "Though we grip the sword to protect those we love, while we grip it we cannot embrace them."

These words struck her. He was dead right, ever since she had started doing these missions for the LEP she had been able to spend less and less time with her brother. She was always training, and when she was spending time with him, it wasn't quite the same. Knowing she could be dragged away at any moment on another mission. The fear of him knowing what she was doing, or had done.

She was starting to tear up now. "What do you expect me to do?" She had to struggle to keep her voice from cracking.

"Run." He said, smiling softly. "Run away, take whatever it is and run away."

She thought about her running from her parents. "You can't spend your entire life running."

"No, but you can always just quit."

"Yes, I suppose I can do that."

He smiled at her again. "So don't let me see you here again." He said it gently, not as a threat.

She looked at him, surprised, but, trying to save face, she composed herself and stood up. "Yeah well, why would I want to come back here anyway." She turned on her wings, which had folded up inside their motor compartment when she landed, and flew away. Silently reprimanding herself for sounding like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Constantine watched her go. "What an odd girl." He said to no one in particular. "She didn't even say goodbye."

**Willow: Wait a minute. is that all of me there is in this story?**

**Me:...nooooo.**

**Willow: YOU BASTARD. **

**Me: This is why i rated it T**

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	14. The Game's Afoot

**I do not own Artemis Fowl. **

Chapter 14

Constantine walked back across his lawn after the fairy had left his sight. Looking at the burn holes in the ground he sighed. "Oh well," he thought. "the grass needs to be cut anyway." It was a few hours before Artemis said he would call and hell, it was a good workout to mow about 2 acres of grass.

When Artemis finally did call, Constantine was in his basement and decked out in boxing gloves showing his 300 pound heavy bag who was the boss around here. Luckily he had his phone system running through the entire house and could answer it from the gym. Artemis was succinct, as always, simply telling him that, no, Holly had not come back yet, and would not return until after dark, and no, I didn't find anything useful in his gun, though Butler still has not heard back from one of his contacts, So yes, you can have your gun back, and no, I do have information for you, well why don't you come over so I can tell you what I've found, which was the original point of the call in the first place?

Constantine came over so that Artemis could tell him what he had found.

When Constantine pulled up the driveway to the manor, Butler, who had been waiting for him, was surprised to see him driving a 1967 Fleetwood Mac.

"Aren't bounty hunter's supposed to be inconspicuous?" Butler asked as Constantine stepped out of the red vehicle.

"_ex _bounty hunter my friend." He said, smiling. "I threw off that mantle when I got married. Didn't really have a choice, actually."

He laughed. But it sounded hollow and joyless to Butler. Butler just smiled and said, "Seems like a the dream." Sometimes misery wants company, sometimes it wants to be consoles, a lot of the time misery just wants to be agreed with. Butler had learned of the years that if someone is trying to hide their tears, the best thing to do is not to notice.

Artemis was waiting for the both of them inside Artemis' study, a projector projecting projections onto the wall opposite the door. A face of a man loomed in front of them. Constantine peered at man with great interest.

"Nice to see you again Constantine." Artemis said.

"Hello Artemis, Juliet." Constantine replied, with his usual charm.

Juliet nodded and smiled back at him. Butler glanced at his sister, a little surprised at her silence. He smiled inwardly to himself.

"Who's he?" Constantine asked Artemis.

"Honestly I was hoping you could tell me."

"You don't know?" In response Artemis smiled vampirically at the man. Constantine smacked his forehead. "I walked into that one."

"Quite. His name is Maximillian Kravchenko. He's a russian industrialist who works in steel."

"What's his connection to me?" Constantine started to feel like James Bond.

"Directly? None that I know of. Indirectly," with a few clicks on a laptop he pulled up a satellite picture of a gorge with a steel mill across one side. "This is his factory, just outside of Yaroslavl. The gorge is-"

"The place where I woke up." Constantine finished.

"Precisely. Also, he had another factory." Artemis' voice was soft, and hesitant.

"Had?" The smile had been gone from Constantine for some time.

"Yes. This factory is only four years old. He had a factor that was destroyed, almost entirely, in fact, seven years ago."

"S-Seven?" Constantine's eyes were wide.

"Yes."

Constantine was silent for a moment. Artemis studied him carefully, the same, listless, look was flashing in his eyes as before. Suddenly Artemis placed the look he noticed earlier in Constantine's library. It was confusion. "So what do we do?" Constantine looked at Artemis for direction.

"Fowl Industries is currently looking to buy steel for a line of products I am hoping to release. I am going to arrange a meeting with the man to inspect his product. My bodyguard and his protege will accompany me."

Constantine understood his part perfectly. "So I might be able to make him. What if he makes me?"

"Doubtful, we are going to make you up to look different than you would have 7 years ago, and If he is so inclined to actually try something in broad daylight when my company knows exactly where I am, then he will have to contend with two of the strongest men on earth, as well as, hopefully, Holly, armed and invisible. Counting on the fact that you are quite possibly the only human who can see through the fairy shield I think we should be okay."

"Alright then, what about the assassins who attacked?"

"Yes, well I think it's safe to say that the assassins were after you, not me."

"Why's that?" "Because, I've only been attacked once in my own house, to similar results." He glanced at Butler, flashing the manservant a quick smile. "So the house being attacked again after several years of reasonable peace on the same day that you show up is an incredible coincidence. Quite frankly, I've learned not to believe in coincidence."

Constantine nodded. It made sense, but it brought out something disturbing to him. That meant that just by being there, he had put these people in danger. People that had been nice to him, the closest thing he had had to friends in years. When he married his wife, he became an addition to her circle of friends. He didn't really have any otherwise. When she died, some of her family blamed him for the event, abandoning him right out. Others were nice in the beginning, but slowly faded out. The friends they had acted the same way, occasionally he would get invited to Christmas parties. Occasionally he went to them, but otherwise, he was alone a lot of the time. This only strengthened his resolve to find his past.

"So when do we start?"

"Tonight. Butler will start training you tonight on how to act as if you were a true blue diamond bodyguard, you may go home tonight afterwards, but come back tomorrow morning so the preparations can continue, and we may have to leave at a moments notice depending on when the appointment is made for."

"Alright." Constantine stood up and he smiled again at Artemis. "Thank you."

Artemis, slightly taken aback, smiled back at Constantine. "Anytime."

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	15. Haircuts Thicken the Plot

**I do not own Artemis Fowl. **

Chapter 15.

Butler and Constantine left Artemis and Juliet in the study.

"Go ahead to the dojo, I have to get some things first."

"Alright." Constantine couldn't help feel like he was being ordered, but had long since learned not to talk back to deadly men roughly the size of his house, so just said asked for directions and left. It was a life policy that served him well.

Butler waited for his sister to come out of Artemis's study. She came out with flair.

"Hey Dom." She was smiling, Butler was always amazed at her ability to take the whatever complex, stressful situation they, or Artemis, had gotten themselves into and just laugh it off.

"Juliet, may I speak to you in private?"

"Of course!" Juliet looked at Butler quizzically as he lead her into a spare bedroom.

"What's up Dom? She said, plopping down on the bed so that she bounced.

Butler sighed, he was never very good at these big brother-type lectures, it was one thing you didn't learn from Madame Ko. So he figured it would be best to get down to the point.

"What do you think about Constantine?"

"What do you mean?"

Butler looked at her with his best "don't bullshit me" stare.

"Well," She thought for a moment, looking slightly uncomfortable. "He's pretty nice, really strong, and unbelievably cute." She winked at him playfully.

"Juliet-"

"Well what do you want, Dom? It's not easy to find someone in our profession, hell you know that more than anybody."

"He's not in our profession."

"But he was, right? I mean at least he'd be able to understand what it's like, and besides he's really sweet, not like most of the hardasses you meet, he seems to genuinely not want to hurt anybody."

"Did you see what he did to that assassin?"

"Yeah but that was different! Holly was in trouble and-" She was getting emotional.

"Juliet, he's had a wife, and a child, both of whom were killed in front of him. He doesn't remember anything about himself past seven years ago. Do you really think he's a good emotional base for a relationship?"

"Well I don't know! I'm not saying I want to go off and marry him, I'm just saying…"

"You like him?"

Juliet bit her thumb. "Yeah."

Butler sighed and ran his hand over his shaved head. "I'm not trying to tell you who to date. I'm just telling you to be careful." He put a big hand on her shoulder.

"I know." she put her hand on his, comically small in comparison. Silently they got up to leave and go perform their respective duties. "Hey Dom?"

"Yeah?"

"Since when did you know all about this stuff?"

The big man smiled. "You think I was alone all my life?"

Constantine found the dojo a lot nicer than his gym. It was calm, peaceful, a place you could really find your inner self while you beat the crap out of someone. Fake japanese paper walls, wide open space, and a separate workout room. With just enough of the MMA body bags to make one feel manly.

Constantine was practicing the one-inch punch on one of the body bags when Butler came in.

"You can do that?"

"Not really. I can't build up enough power in the punch to do enough damage to be useful in a fight. so what preparations do we have to make?"

Butler pulled a table out from the side of the dojo and laid out a henna tattoo kit, and a electric razor. Constantine, wide-eyed, realizing what was about to happen, could feel his spiky hair wilt. Butler looked at him with with a grin. "We're going to make you me."

Artemis had left his study after he made the call to Kravchenko's company, he was politely told by an irate secretary that Mr. Kravchenko wouldn't be in till morning. Artemis could detect a slight tone of "piss off" in her voice. It amused him slightly. He was sure several years ago he would have been more than pissed and would've made sure that she lost her job and then some, but now he just found it slightly funny.

He smiled about it as he walked back to his room. A window on the way told him it was dark already which made him smile more, Holly was going to be back soon. He didn't know why, exactly this made him happy, it just did. Yeah she was his friend, that must be it. Right?

When he got to his room, he simply took off his coat and laid back on his bed and waited. He knew when she came she would come here, she always did. It was a system they had worked out a while ago in case his parents were home. He sat there pondering things for another half hour until he heard a tapping at his window.

"Once upon a midnight dreary." He muttered to himself. Getting up, he strode to his window, flinging wide the panes he whispered. "Lenore."

"Who's Lenore?" Asked a 3 foot tall elf with auburn hair and chestnut skin, looking at him with a smirk.

"An American romanticist's lost love." He said, moving out of the way so she could enter.

"Well I am not lost, and you are not an American romanticist." She said, leaving out the _love _part. Artemis laughed.

"One day I'll read you the poem, and it will make more sense." He looked her in the eye, and noticed something under the bravado. "Holly, what happened?" He asked suddenly looked at him for a moment, trying to save face, but he could see her smile faltering. "Holly, wh-"

He was cut off by her suddenly throwing herself into him, hugging him and burying her face in his stomach. she wasn't crying exactly, but she was breathing heavily, as if she were trying to hold back tears.

Artemis didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. He just returned the hug as tightly as he could, trying to comfort her. He knew she would tell him when she was ready.

Holly liked where she was. She liked being by him. She liked being held and holding him. She liked his scent, paper and leather. She ran her hands through his long, black hair. "I liked your hair when it was shorter."

He looked at her and smiled. "Then cut it."

"Wha-here? Now?" She asked, confused.

"Sure." He untangled himself from the embrace and walked over to his bathroom. When he came back he held a large pair of scissors. She smiled at him, despite her grief.

"You sure you trust me with that around your head?"

Quickly, he walked over and hugged her again. "How many times have you saved my life? I trust you implicitly."

Holly's knees nearly gave out. She was sure that if she hadn't been there, holding on to Artemis she would have had to sit down, or fallen over. Trust. That is what she wanted most at the moment. "Thanks Arty." She said into his shirt.

Soon enough, Artemis was sitting in the bathroom with a towel tied around his neck. Holly was standing behind him, snipping away at his hair, shortening it to the style that she knew so well, the same style she'd seen him with since they had first met. While she cut, she told him everything. About Foaly, Vinyaya, her feelings, her memories. When she finished her story he sat there pensively.

"The plot thickens." He muttered.

"You can say that again."

He did. She hit him.

She was soon finished with his haircut. Untying the towel, he stood up in front of his bathroom mirror and examined her handiwork. It wasn't exactly on a professional level. "It's perfect." he said.

She smiled sheepishly. "Liar." She really didn't care. She appreciated the compliment.

He looked at her, smiling at him with her head slightly bowed, he hands holding the scissors behind her back. She was just so _cute. _Waitaminute. Did he just think that? No. Couldn't be.

He hugged her again, and she hugged him back, and they left the bathroom. She sat in his chair at his desk while he sat down on his bed.

"What does it mean?" She asked him.

"It means I don't have to pay to get my hair cut." She threw a pen at him.

"I'm kidding!" He sighed. "It means you are somehow linked to Constantine, and the fairies know about it, or at least Foaly and Vinyaya know about it. Foaly's silence doesn't make much sense, he's always supported you at his own peril, so I assume he's under orders not to talk about it. Those order's could only have come from the council or Vinyaya, and since Vinyaya has never been one to adhere to the council anyway, I'm thinking it must have come from her. I don't know what they're keeping from you, Holly, but I promise you, I will find out."

Holly had rarely ever seen him like this. It was beyond just doing his duty for a friend, he was honestly mad that they were lying to her. Mad that they could do this to her, he understood something that he wasn't telling her, and that understanding made him livid. He would never show it, but she had known him for so long, she knew all his emotional tells. Honestly, she was flattered, and happy, for some reason, that it inspired this type of emotion in him, that she could inspire this type of emotion in him. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

Holly started taking her Iris Cam out of her eye, it was a hazel lens over her blue eye, and shy put it on Artemis's desk, hiding it under a piece of paper.

"Holly, what are you doing?" Artemis asked, confused.

"I don't want them to see this." She responded. She walked over to him and stood for a minute in front of him. Artemis looked into her mismatched eyes with his, confused, surprisingly, as to what was happening. Then, she kissed him.

Artemis was taken aback, but did not pull back. After the initial shock, he deepened the kiss, pulling her body closer to him.

Holly smiled into the kiss. There it was. The spark she had been waiting for. It electrified her from her toes to her pointy ears, and a few blue sparks shot out of the tips as they wiggled in delight.

Artemis stopped for a moment and looked at her. "Holly, we-"

She put her finger on his lips to stop him. "Shut up Arty. For one night, no analyzing, no theorizing. For one night let there be just you and me." Artemis smiled, and nodded. Elated, Holly pounced, and tackled him onto the bed.

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	16. Confessions and Conssumation

**I do not own Artemis Fowl **

Chapter 16

Artemis awoke next to Holly, sunlight streaming in the east-facing window of his room. IT was so warm, next to her. He pulled her in closer to his body, so that their skin was touching as they intertwined.

"Mmmmmm." Holly nuzzled in to his chest, her eyes still closed, remembering the night before. Who knew little Arty had _muscles? _

_"_Good morning, Holly."

"Good morning, Arty." She said sleepily into his chest. It was quite sublime, just the two of them, with the sun streaming in, like nothing could ever harm them, like nothing could touch them. Then the tranquility was shattered, by a particularly loud, particularly annoying alarm clock.

"D'arvit." Artemis swore, reaching out from under the covers and untangling himself from holly to turn off the blasted device. Holly sat up next to him, stealing the duvet altogether and smiling at him suggestively.

"I thought we already did." Artemis couldn't contain his smile.

"Several times over." He looked at his (and her) clothes spread across the floor and decided he would clean it up later. Then he got up to get dressed for breakfast. Holly watched him, smiling like a cat that found its favorite toy.

"Leaving so soon?" Artemis looked back at her, the expression on her face giving him chills.

"Not exactly. Breakfast will be ready in a half hour since I neglected to let Juliet know that I would be "otherwise engaged". Missing Juliet's breakfast is almost as bad as missing Mothers, since Juliet will then come barging into the offenders room demanding to know why they were so damned rude."

"This wouldn't exactly be the most appropriate way to be found, would it?" Holly said, still eyeing the man.

"Precisely, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." He continued getting dressed. Really, he was just putting on his silk pajamas and a nice robe.

Holly eyed him doing this, and then eyed his shirt on the floor. She felt like being a bit mischievous.

When Artemis came out of the bathroom from brushing his teeth to find Holly waiting for him, in his shirt. Just his shirt. "Well now I feel underdressed." He commented.

"It's not like anything is showing! Even with the PP this still goes all the way down to my knees! I had to roll up the sleeves a bunch just to see my hands."

"Did I say anything? You look _fantastic." _ He said evasively as he opened his bedroom door for her to lead the way.

"Good!" She gave him a light kiss before she crossed the threshold. "Besides, all my clothes are back at my room!"

Artemis smiled as he closed the door behind him. Hell hath no fury indeed.

Artemis had expected quite a reaction from the Butler's when he came downstairs, but this was ridiculous. Butler seemed to not notice anything out of the ordinary and went right back to reading his paper after saying "good morning." Juliet, on the other hand, nearly died laughing. It was actually quite embarrassing, Artemis nearly blushed, Holly couldn't quite pull off the nearly. Neither of them looked at Juliet.

They sat down opposite each other, and were served by Juliet, still giggling uncontrollably. Artemis, sitting next to Butler, leaned in to his oldest friend.

"Incidentally-"

"My bedroom is right underneath yours, Artemis, I heard everything." The giant said nonchalantly. This threw Juliet into another state of laughter, and caused Artemis to actually blush. Holly threw him an embarrassed smile from across the table. Butler smiled and winked at her. She blushed too.

Breakfast continued in a similar manner, with the limits of Artemis' and Holly's shame being tested by Juliet's constant harassment. Even worse was Butler's bemused silence.

Finally, reprieve came when the phone rang, and Juliet had to go answer it. It was Mr. Kravchenko asking for Artemis. Everyone waited in silence as Artemis spoke to the man on the phone carefully, measuring his responses as a true businessman would. When he was done, everyone looked at him.

"The meeting is in two days." He said. "We're going to Russia."

Everyone got up to leave to get ready for the coming trip, Holly and Juliet left immediately, but Butler stopped Artemis before he could go back to his room.

"What is it, old friend?" Artemis asked. Butler looked at him, concerned.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Duping a potentially dangerous businessman, simply for someone you met a few days ago? I understand why you did things like this in the past, it had to be done, but this doesn't. I didn't mind when you took the job at first, but this is getting dangerous. Somebody wants that man dead, and I have the feeling that the closer we get to the truth behind his past the more dangerous it will become. We can still walk away from this."

Artemis looked at his bodyguard. "I agree with you, this is getting dangerous, much more dangerous than I originally anticipated, but I promised Constantine we would find his memories." He held up his hand to forestall Butler's objections. "There's more to it than that. Holly is involved in a way we cannot ignore."

"How?"

Artemis explained what had been revealed to him the night before. "Furthermore, and this is something I did not mention to Holly, I have reason to believe that she has had her memories wiped. Possibly by the fairies. I don't know why, but the closer we get to Constantine's truth, the closer we will get to hers as well."

Butler nodded, gravely. "I see."

"On that note, would you retrieve Constantine from his house?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Domovoi." Artemis only called Butler by his first name in their most private of moments.

Butler pulled up to Constantine's house, half expecting to see Constantine himself standing outside, waiting for him with a stupid grin on his face. He wasn't there though. Butler knocked on the door politely, but there was no answer. He waited for a minute, listening for sounds of movement inside, but he heard none. So he knocked harder, and when he did the door opened a crack.

Butler was immediately on guard. Pulling out his sig sauer, he opened the door, wincing at its creaking. He could be silent, that was useless when every doorway he went through trumpeted his presence to the world. Advancing silently, he noticed no signs of struggle, but the T.V. was still on, blaring some depressing story on the news. He also saw the bottle of port that Artemis had opened, empty on the counter. Next to it was an equally empty bottle of rum. Had he been drinking? What a stupid way to get himself killed, Butler thought. He noticed the door to the basement open a crack, he opened it the rest of the way, thankful that at least it was silent, and proceeded down the stairs.

He immediately noticed a door open on the right, the empty space standing out against the white hallway. There was a strange sound coming from it. It sounded like crying. Was somebody crying in there?

Butler moved quickly and quietly to the door frame, where he stopped, listening to see if anyone was inside.

"I'm sorry."

Butler's ears perked up. That was Constantine. Drunk and sobbing, but constantine nonetheless.

"I'm so sorry Rachelle. I-I killed a person. I didn't want to, I tried to control it. I know how much you hated all the death and killing in the world. You made me promise not to kill. You taught me that. I know we have no right to take the life of another person. But someone's life was in danger. Someone innocent….I-I lost control… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The rest was drowned in tears.

Butler knew this was something he shouldn't interrupt, but they were on a schedule.

"Constantine." He said softly, appearing in the doorway and putting his gun away. He saw a dimly lit room, with a table in the center, on the table was a framed photograph of a beautiful blonde. Butler understood at once. Constantine was lying in the corner.

"Oh, hello Butler." He said, trying to smile, his words slurred. His cheeks were rosy, but his eyes were dirty from crying. "Th-this is my wife, Rachelle." He pointed at the photograph with a half-empty tequila bottle. "Rachelle, this is Butler. He's my friend." Constantine said proudly.

"Constantine, we have to go." Butler said, still trying to be tender. The broken warrior broke Butler's heart. He had seen this before in comrades, people who had lost loved ones to the trade, people who turned to the bottle in an attempt to drown out the screams of the people they've killed. Butler knew better, he knew that ghosts could swim.

"Alrigh' Butler." Constantine tried to stand, but fell over. Butler reacted quickly to prevent him from hitting the ground.

Then, with Constantine's arm around Butler's elbow, Butler supported him upstairs. Constantine sat quietly as Butler filled up his sink with cold water. Butler threw in a tray of ice-cubes for good measure, and picked up Constantine by the scruff of the neck and dunked his bald head under the frigid water. Constantine kept himself under for a minute, and when he came up, he was serious and sober.

"Thanks Butler."

"No problem." Butler meant it. Despite everything, he felt a sort of camaraderie with the man, they were similar people, had lead similar lives. "Kravchenko called, we're leaving soon."

"Alright, I'll pack my stuff." Constantine was still breathing heavily from the ice bath. "Butler?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't-Don't tell Artemis, please."

Butler understood, no one else should know their moments of shame. "I won't."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

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**...: Im sorry, but this was rated T for this reason, but it isn't going to get any saucier than this, so don't worry. **

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	17. An Exchange in the Air

**I do not own Artemis Fowl **

Chapter 17

In a few hours, they were all flying to Russia in the Fowl's Lear Jet. They owned a newer model, but Artemis' parents had taken that to Paris. Artemis was flying the jet, while Holly, Constantine, and the Butlers sat in the cabin. After the jet reached cruising altitude Artemis rejoined the posse in the cabin to find Butler putting the finishing touches of a fake face tribal tattoo on a disgruntled looking Constantine while Holly and Juliet made fun of him mercilessly. Constantine was doing his best to ignore them.

"Women shouldn't be allowed to giggle." He commented when he saw Artemis. Artemis solemnly agreed as he sat next to Holly. Holly stopped giggling and looked at him oddly.

"Um, Arty, dear, who's flying the plane?" She said slowly, as if pointing out something to someone particularly slow.

"The plane has an autopilot, dear." He said with an equally patronizing smile. She punched him.

"You're still an insufferable know-it-all."

"And you still have the self-control of a raging bull." He said, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"I didn't hear you complaining about my self control last night, Fowl." She challenged.

"Conversely, I heard no complaining about the depth of my knowledge, major." He riposted with a smile. Nothing changed, they fought, but they secretly loved it.

"Um," Constantine spoke up, moving his lips and cheeks as little as possible. "did I miss something?" This sent Juliet into another fit of giggles. Constantine looked at her incredulously. "Are you alright?"

"Ah, yes," Artemis said, ignoring Juliet. "I'm afraid you did." He smiled at Holly, who returned it sweetly. It was amazing what her smile did to him.

"So are you two an item or something? How are you going to explain that to the LEP? They can't possibly be behind this." Both Holly and Artemis looked uncomfortable.

"We-" He started.

"Haven't really discussed it." She finished.

"Oh."

An awkward silence fell between the group, even Juliet's giggling subsided. The silence was broken by Butler announcing that he was finished with the tattoo. The group agreed that it was masterfully done. Constantine agreed that he was glad it wasn't permanent.

"What are our accommodations for the trip?" Butler asked, putting away his airbrush.

"Quite better than the one's for our previous arctic adventure, I assure you. I have rented us a nice house on the outskirts of town, in one of the nicer neighborhoods."

"I wasn't aware Yaroslavl had a nice neighborhood." Constantine said."It didn't when I was there."

Artemis shrugged. "A lot can change in 7 years."

"How big is it?" Juliet asked.

"4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms."

Holly looked at him quizzically. "Four? But there are five of us." Artemis looked nervous, quite a feat for him.

"Actually, Holly, I was hoping that you would stay with me for the duration."

Holly looked stunned, as did the rest of the cabin's occupants. She then hugged his arm, looking enamored. "Of course I will."

Artemis let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. The rest of the flight went similarly. Banter passing back and forth between the passengers. Once, Juliet tried to show Constantine how to throw a suplex, but Artemis made them stop when they broke one of the white leather chairs. Constantine apologized profusely, promising to pay for the damage.

Artemis surveyed the scene, and felt an odd calm come over him. Like this was the way it was supposed to be, no danger, no threat. Nothing could touch them up here, and with Holly on his arm, the two of them quietly exchanging sweet nothings, everything just felt right. Artemis felt odd at these moments, the onetime criminal mastermind feeling settled, it just didn't make a lot of sense. If someone had told him several years ago that he would be in….love…(he still had some trouble with the idea) with a fairy he had kidnapped, ready to settle down, ready for the quiet life, at the mere age of 18, he would have told them that they should take a long vacation in a padded cell.

His life with Holly also made him feel odd. They fit together so well, and it felt right to have her here beside him, but that was _here. _Holly still had a life elsewhere, with a people that hated and feared his kind. How could they possibly have a life together? Plus, he would grow old, and die, in a space of time that she would, realistically, age only a few years. Could he selfishly do that to her? Just for his own happiness? He was acting out of emotion at the moment, something he had always assumed led to the wrong decision. Thinking rationally, it didn't seem feasible for them to have a life together, and what about kids? He had thought about having a son before, someone to carry on the family name, but could elves even mate with humans? And wouldn't people notice when they, presumably, aged slowly, and lived for centuries, if not millennia? And what if….

Artemis shook his head, he was thinking in what-ifs. Rambling in his own brain. What was quote? "Live as if you'll die today, learn as if you'll live forever"? Carpe Diem.

After a few hours, Juliet and Holly fell asleep, Artemis too, dozed off, wanting some rest before he had to land the plane. Butler did not want to sleep, but Constantine convinced him, with the logic that he could guard the group now, then Butler would not be so tired at night when they were at the house. Finally, Butler acquiesced to the man and shut his eyes.

Constantine, smiling, got up to change into his black suit. Butler had given it to him, along with a shoulder holster, to mirror his own, so he would truly look like a blue-diamond bodyguard. Holstering his revolver, Constantine practiced drawing it a few times. He wasn't used to a shoulder holster, and would have to change his daily drills to familiarize himself with the system. Suited, tattooed, and content, he watched his newfound friends doze.

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	18. Impossible

**I do not Own Artemis Fowl **

Chapter 18

Artemis awoke an hour before the jet would start its decent. He got up and stretched, thankful for the extra time to wake up before he had to land a jet. Constantine was up too, he noticed, or perhaps he had never gone to sleep. He was staring absent-mindedly out a window.

"Good morning." This brought Constantine out of his reverie.

"Good morning." It was morning, despite the darkness outside, They had left at 8 o'clock at night, it was an 8 hour flight over, plus they gained three hours, meaning they would be landing at seven in the morning in moscow. It would be another 4 hours to drive to Yaroslavl. In a luxury Bentley that Artemis had rented, of course.

Artemis went towards the front of the jet to get ready for the decent. Soon, everyone started to wake up. Butler looked at Constantine all dressed up.

"You ready?" He asked. Constantine nodded. From the moment they left the jet Constantine would be Artemis' second bodyguard. That way, if anyone was watching them as came into the country the story they had cooked up would check out.

Everyone else woke up as the Lear jet started its decent. The good thing about owning your own plane is you don't have to wait to get off, you don't have to mess around with customs for three hours, you just get off onto the tarmac and go.

Unfortunately, "getting off onto the tarmac and going" constitutes a four hour drive. No matter what kind of car you are in, 4 hour drives suck. So the seats are comfortable, you're still stuck in the car for 4 hours with 4 other people.

Because of this, the group reached the house in Yaroslavl at 11:30, all feeling cramped and irritable. Butler went in first, to sweep for bugs and explosives, while Artemis and Holly waited inside the car. Constantine and Butler waited outside the car, combing the area for possible attack and escape routes.

When Butler gave the all-clear everyone went inside. The house was indeed large, but it was cozy, not at all with the medieval aloofness of Fowl Manor. It had nice white carpeting, the parts that were wood were Mahogany. The walls were cherry wood or a cream dry wall. It had a very rustic feel to it. Stairs in the back lead to a second floor that was mostly luxury bedrooms.

Constantine unceremoniously threw his suitcase onto his bed. There was a wooden bureau in the room and he started unpacking his clothes into it. At the bottom of the suitcase was a small cardboard box. He opened it, and took a crystal wine glass out of the bubble wrap in side. He placed the glass on his bed and put the box back in his suitcase, and put the suitcase under the bed. Picking up the glass with his left hand, and putting his right on his gun under his armpit. He stayed like that moment, concentrating. Suddenly he threw the glass spinning into the air. Before it passed his arm height, he drew his gun and caught the glass on the square edge of the barrel housing. He balanced it there for a minute, then flicked his wrist and threw it up again, replacing his gun in its holster and drawing it again before it fell. The glass balanced for a second before he threw it again. This time, when drawing, the gun caught on his suit coat. reacting quickly, he caught the glass with his left hand before it hit the ground.

Twirling the glass in his left hand, he sat down on the bed and sighed, this whole shoulder holster thing was going to be a pain.

Artemis and Holly were also getting settled, which meant they were arguing.

"Are you sure it's going to work again?"

"Of course it's going to work again." He assured, referring to a part of his plan. "

You better be sure." Artemis calmly put away his clothes.

"I always am." A silence fell between the two.

"What are we going to do?" She asked him seriously.

"I just explained the plan to you."

"No, I mean, what are _we _going to do? About us." Artemis sat on the bed, not looking at her. "Artemis."

"What can we do?" He still wouldn't look at her. "Our lives, our worlds, are so completely different."

Holly was shaking. "So-So what is this?" It nearly killed Artemis to say it.

"Making the best of a bad thing."

Holly had tears in his eyes. "Artemis you… You bastard!" She ran into the adjoining bathroom and slammed the door.

Artemis sighed and put his head in his hands. What did she expect? She was always emotional, but to react like this was ridiculous, even for her. "Holly." He said softly walking over to the door.

"Holly-"

"Go away." Artemis thought for a moment.

"No?" She was already pissed at him. He heard the sound of something hard hit the door and jumped. "Holly, I'm sorry." He got silence as a response.

"Holly-" The door opened, and he nearly fell onto Holly, whose eyes were puffy and red.

"Do you think we made a mistake?" The question struck him. A mistake? No. How could something so wonderful, so pure, be considered a mistake? Maybe it was just his idea of mistake that was skewed, as most of his "mistakes" had resulted in people getting seriously hurt, but no, a mistake was something you regretted, something you did wrong that was to be learned from. He refused to regret this.

"No." He said, putting his arms around her shoulders. "I think we are victims of circumstance."

"Then what do we do?"

"There are two things, we can either 1, change the circumstances, or 2, stop being victims."

"What do you think we should do?"

"Holly, you have a life, a much longer life than I could ever hope to have. Compared to me you are immortal. You have a career, friends, I can't expect you to leave all that behind for a few years with me. No, you yourself have prevented me from being so selfish as that. I will be forever grateful for that."

"Do you think we were a mistake?" She asked, quietly, not looking at him.

"No." He said, then more forcefully. "No! Holly look at me." She did. "A mistake you regret. A mistake is something done wrong. I refuse to regret this. Holly," He looked her straight in the eye, a forceful gaze trying to convey all the emotion he didn't know how to express. "I refuse to regret this. Holly, I-I-" He tried to say it, he really did, he just couldn't. He still did not know how. Sensing his struggle, she simply hugged him. They sat there for minutes in silence, hugging each other.

"You can stay in this room." He said, finally. "I will take the couch downstairs, I believe it folds into a futon. Or better yet, I will make Constantine take the couch. Yes." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"No." She said, holding him tighter. "Stay with me. If this indeed isn't a mistake, then stay with me now."

"I will." He whispered. They laid back on the soft off-white duvet, and stayed in the bed staring at the dark red walls and white ceiling, fully clothed, for a indescribable time.

"Artemis?" She asked quietly, as if tentative to break the comfortable silence.

"Yes?"

"Do you think that this is impossible?" He thought for a moment.

"No, impossible is a world for small men who choose to live in the world they are given instead of make something of it. I will find a way to make this, to make us, acceptable."

"And if the world refuses to accept it?" She asked, still quietly.

"Then I will change the world." She never doubted a word he said. If anyone could do it, then he could. He was Artemis Fowl, he could do anything.

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	19. Crapshoot

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 19

Juliet was the last one up that night. She finished her patrol of the outside of the house and set the alarm system before she went to bed. The whole house was silent, eerily so, and dark. The only light in the house was from the moon, which was unnaturally bright and shining through the windows.

She headed to her bedroom, which was next to Constantine's, when she heard a soft sound. It was quiet, and soft, but the whole house was so silent it stood out to her trained ear. It was a moan, a whine, incoherent, desperate sounds. They were coming from Constantine's room.

"Constantine?" She spoke softly, knocking lightly on his door. The sounds continued. Looking around, Juliet quietly opened the door and entered his room.

Constantine was breathing heavily in his bed, his face desperate and sad. Occasionally he would moan, accompanied by a jerking thrash under his covers. He was having a nightmare. Her curiosity slated, Juliet turned around to leave.

"No." Constantine groaned.

Juliet turned around at the door. Constantine's eyes were still shut, his face screwed up in pain.

"No, no, no, don't. Not them." Juliet walked towards him.

"Constantine."

"No, don't- don't hurt them. Please!"

"Constantine." She put her hand on his shoulder lightly.

"NO!" He growled, his eyes flying open and, quicker than Juliet could register, he had jumped out of bed, grabbed her by the neck, and slammed her against the wall. She saw spots in front of her head, unable to catch her breath because he was choking her. He reared back with his fist, then caught himself, starting to realize where he was.

"Con…stan….tine." Juliet managed to splutter out. His eyes widened, just fully realizing what had happened, he let go and she fell down in a slump. He went to help her up, when he became aware of a presence at his door.

He turned his head and came face to face with Butler's Sig Sauer. The big man's eyes were flashing a murderous intent. The noise had woken him up. "Don't move."

Constantine put his hands up, trying to show he meant no harm. "Butler-"

"Butler, don't." Juliet said, putting up a hand to sway him. Butler barely registered her plea. He was a bull right now, and he was seeing red. "Bro-"

Her second plea was cut off by a fit of coughing by Constantine. At first, it was a light cough, but then, he doubled over onto all fours, his arm in front of his mouth. Juliet took the opportunity and put her hand on her brother's massive arm.

"It was my fault," She said to him. "He was having a nightmare and I tried to wake him up." Butler lowered his gun, but Constantine's coughing had gotten worse. "Are you okay?" Juliet tried to ask him.

Butler, though, recognized the cough. "No, he's not." In two strides, he went into the adjoining bathroom, and grabbed one of the towels that the landowner put there for the convenience of whoever was staying. In two more strides he was at Constantine's side, holding the towel under his mouth. Constantine continued to hack into it as Juliet watched, confused.

When Constantine's coughing finally died down, there was something dark dripping onto the towel.

"What the hell?" Butler stood up, leaving the towel with Constantine, the previously virgin cloth was covered with….blood.

"Tuberculosis." Butler said. Constantine nodded, wiping blood from his mouth with the cleaner part of the towel. "How long have you had it?" Butler asked, Juliet was still speechless.

"As long as I can remember."

Butler let out a low whistle. "Seven years? you should be in a lot worse shape than you are."

"I know it." Constantine sat down on his bed, supporting himself with his arms, looking back at the ceiling. "No matter what it doesn't kill me, though. I lose half a lung, damn thing just heals, like it was never there to begin with. I don't know why."

Butler didn't even bother pointing out the impossibilities of that. Yet everything he had seen of the man so far was just as incredible, so who was he to deny it? Butler glanced at Constantine's shoulder, it was fully healed, with a scar running down the arm being the only evidence that a wound was ever there. "Are you going to be alright the rest of the night?"

"Yeah."

"Goodnight then." Butler led his still stunned sister out of the room.

"Goodnight."

Juliet said goodnight to her brother and went to her room. She changed into her bedclothes and climbed under the duvet, but she couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about what had just happened, the nightmare, the disease. What was he reliving that was so horrible? The death of someone dear? The death of people dear to him? Was it his family? Friends? What happened to them that pained him so? And she couldn't get his words out of his head. "No matter what it doesn't kill me, though." It seemed like….like someone who wanted to die.

The next morning was awkward for, well, everyone. Juliet had woken to make breakfast only to find Constantine in the kitchen already at it, using supplies provided by the landowner. He was cheery and smiling and acting as if, on the whole, he hadn't spat up a part of his lung the night before.

Butler, Artemis, and Holly all came down in sequence, and the breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, sausage, rolls, and halfhearted jokes that were a clear distraction and evasion from breaching the more serious subjects everyone seemed to have broached he day before. There would be a car showing up for Artemis at 10, after all, and no one wanted to put tension on the group just before an operation.

At nine, with the table clear, and everyone full, Artemis explained the plan. This time, the ultra-secrecy of the Spiro incident was unnecessary, it was a straightforward job. He assigned everyone their parts, made sure everyone knew what they would be doing, and explained several different escape options should something go wrong.

At ten o'clock on the dot, a car was waiting for them outside the house. It was a Rolls Royce Phantom, the newest model.

"One thing you have to admit, Mr. Kravchenko has style." Artemis commented to Constantine, in a remarkable display of tactlessness. Well, not everything about him had changed.

"Glad to hear it." Constantine riposted curtly. He was anxious, everything he had known for seven years was about to come to a head.

As soon as they left the house, everyone was all business. Butler trailing Artemis, and Constantine leading the way, looking about for signs of attack. He did a quick sweep of the car for bombs, and everyone piled in, including Holly, who had taken the PP antidote and was shielded, an invisible guard. She had a shimmer suit on too, specialized for cold weather.

Juliet stayed behind, she was backup, and would have radio contact with Butler the entire time through a hidden earpiece. She watched the phantom drive, irretrievably, away.

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	20. Deja Vu

**I do not Own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 20

The car ride ensued in silence. With the few exceptions caused by the driver, who tried to start up conversation several times, but was struck down by Artemis' cold indifference. A changed man he may be, but this was business, and he will never be one to suffer fools during business. Butler and Constantine said nothing at all.

When they were getting closer to the mill, which was well outside the town itself, Artemis noticed a gorge in front of the mill. There was a private suspension bridge that spanned it, with armed guards at outposts at the entrance and exit to the bridge. The car pulled up to the first of these buildings, where the driver flashed an identity badge and spoke in Russian to the guard who waved them through. They passed through the second outpost without stopping, Artemis guessed that the first guard had radioed ahead.

The whole process made Butler nervous. He wasn't a superstitious man, but certain things appeared to him as a bad omen. Armed guards at checkpoints ranked high among them. It would make escape difficult, not that they didn't know about this already, but knowing and seeing have different effects on people. At least, he thought, they had Juliet on standby. He glanced at Constantine, who was seated on the other side of Artemis, to judge what he thought about the situation, but the youth showed no reaction. He was completely passive.

Butler's eyes narrowed for a moment. That was why he didn't trust the kid yet. In those rare moments when Constantine was in motion, when the shadows of a life long past showed on his face, Butler could not read him. Even the most hardened hit men, when face to face with Butler, could not hide their soul behind their eyes. That is why many of them wore sunglasses. You could train your face to betray nothing, but the eyes were a wealth of information for someone who knew where to look. Constantine, on the other hand, never wore sunglasses, but when he was like this Butler couldn't pick up a single thing from his eyes, they betrayed no emotion, and it unsettled the veteran.

Another thing that unsettled him was Holly, shielded and sitting on his knee. But not the same "what-the-hell?" way, more of a "what-am-I-a-Disney-ride?" kind of way. He loved her the same way he loved Artemis, but there is a limit. Next thing you know she'd be riding on his shoulders. Butler had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at the thought.

When the car stopped in front of the complex which, from the outside, looked like any other large corporate structure with the exception of large smoke stacks rising out of the top, she did climb on top of his shoulders. Butler couldn't react, knowing it would betray her position, and to be honest, he understood why she did it as he stepped into the snow. Invisible footprints would be a little hard to explain.

Artemis was light enough to stay on top of the powdery snow, but the cold did nothing to improve his disposition as the driver lead them to the entrance of the complex, where there appeared a large man in a white suit that matched the surrounding snowscape.

As Artemis approached the man, he recognized him as Kravchenko, his long, stringy hair and mangled features making him hard not to be noticed. The large Russian had a wide, anticipatory smile on his face as he waited, not unlike a car salesman, and as Artemis entered the first set of glass doors, where Kravchenko was waiting, the man shook his hand vigorously.

"Master Fowl, what a pleasure it is to meet you at last. I'm glad to have you here." He said with a light Russian accent.

"The pleasure is mine," Artemis said, extracting his hand from the man's grip. "and, if you would please, it's Mister Fowl." He finished, taking the chance to play the spoiled little rich kid. It was better to have people underestimate him, especially when they were the subject of covert surveillance.

"Of course." Kravchenko replied. He glanced at Artemis' bodyguards, who were still waiting outside, being snowed on, the driver who escorted them already having left. "Would your, ah, friends like to come in?" Artemis looked back at the pair, feigning indifference.

"If they are welcome."

"Of course!" The businessman boomed. "Friends of Mr. Fowl's are always welcome here!" Artemis had to repress a smile as he signaled for Butler and Constantine to enter. It was almost too easy.

The two men entered, shaking snow off their shoulders. Krevchenko greeted them just as heartily as he did Artemis, shaking both Butler's and Constantine's hand. "Do I know you from somewhere?" He asked Constantine, his eyes narrowed, but his smile never faded.

"I don't think so." Replied Constantine, without returning the warm smile.

"Ah…..Yes, I think I would remember a face like that." Indicating Constantine's tattoo. Constantine suppressed the urge to say "same to you, and simply nodded.

"Mr. Kravchenko," Artemis said, impatiently breaking in. "if we may?" He indicated towards the inside door.

"Ah, business first, eh Mr. Fowl? Very well then, let us go." As they turned to move inside the building Artemis noticed a slight shimmer follow behind them. Too easy.

A few hours later, Constantine, Juliet, Butler, Holly and Artemis were all in the living room of the house and watching the video feed of the factory tour that Holly had recorded.

"Does this trigger anything?" Artemis asked Constantine.

"Nothing but a migraine." Constantine had been irritable since they left the Complex. He attributed it to a headache that he had since they crossed the bridge. Now he sat in the center of a light blue couch facing the television, nursing a whiskey glass, no one really knew where he got it from. Juliet and Holly were on either side of him, Butler taking up a whole couch by himself, and Artemis holding the remote next to the T.V.

"I'm surprised you managed to control it the whole time you were there." Juliet complimented. Holly's camera had just panned over his face, which remained passive the entire time.

"Yes," Artemis added absentmindedly. "but it is a good sign, it means your brain is working overtime trying to re-establish connections that have been lost. It knows that it has forgotten something, it just can't remember what it has forgotten."

"Welcome to the club." Constantine said, holding the whiskey on the rocks to his forehead, as if toasting his brain.

"So, you are both blue-diamond bodyguards?" That was Kravchenko on the screen. He was talking to Butler and Constantine, who nodded simultaneously. They were all in a small, grey, windowed room looking into the foundry. Artemis cocked an eyebrow at Kravchenko, who shrugged, still smiling. "I am not without my sources either." He turned back to the two bodyguards. "May I see the blue diamonds? I've never had the pleasure of seeing one up close."

Butler and Constantine looked at each other, perplexed, and then at Artemis, who nodded his consent. Butler took off his suit coat and handed it to Constantine. He then started to undue the straps on the holster of his sig sauer and to unbutton his shirt, revealing muscles that would put a bodybuilder to shame. Before the shirt was completely off, he thrust the collar down over his his massive left shoulder, revealing the blue diamond, which seemed to sparkle in the sparse lighting of the room. Krevchenko smiled with glee and turned to Constantine. "And you?"

Artemis remembered the back of his neck prickling when he heard that. A henna tattoo could never pass for a real one under close inspection, a fact that could be explained away for the one on his face, but not the blue diamond. He would be revealed as a fraud if Krevchenko noticed.

Constantine, however, calmly handed both Butler's coat and his own to the giant, and started undoing the straps on his shoulder holster. Next he started unbuttoning his shirt. When he pulled his shoulder partially out of his shirt, he revealed the tattoo.

"Ah the Blue Diamond!" Kravchenko exclaimed. "Representative of a lifetime of work towards achieving something thought unattainable. You must be proud." Butler and Constantine quietly agreed with him as they put their clothes back on. He was right, after all.

"I'm glad you thought of that, Artemis." Butler said from his couch.

"Yes, it turned out to be quite useful, did it not?" Artemis replied with a self-satisfied smile. He had anticipated that, as a matter of fact, and that's why Kravchenko hadn't noticed the fake one. It wasn't fake. They gave Constantine a real Blue Diamond.

"If Madame Ko knew I did that, she would kill me." Butler mused.

Constantine, whose headache had gotten worse, put his now empty glass onto a wood and glass coffee table in front of the couch and stood up. "I need a drink." He announced.

"You just had a drink." Holly pointed out.

"I need another one." He was already moving towards the door. He grabbed his black parka off of the coat rack on the way. "Where are you going?" Artemis asked.

"To find a bar."

"Why?" Juliet stood up too now, indignant. "Why do you need to drink?"

Constantine stopped with his hand on the door knob. He was barely lucid at this point, the pain in his head was growing exponentially, but he managed to mutter. "So I can find the click." And with that, he left. leaving a stunned room behind him.

Butler and Artemis glanced at each other. They had known each other so long, thoughts could fly between eye contact. Something was wrong. "Follow him," Artemis ordered. "And don't be noticed."

Butler nodded, and got up to leave out the back door.

Constantine had managed to stumble 3 blocks before he found a bar. The bar he found was a dive, with a semi-collapsing roof and wooden walls with paint peeling off of it in sheaves. A big sign saying "Tom's Tavern" in Russian adorned the front. It looked familiar to him somehow, but couldn't place it. He didn't care though, it had alcohol, it was good enough.

He stumbled in, creating a little more noise than he would have like, but he headed up to the bar anyway. "Vodka. Straight." There was nothing quite like Russian vodka.

The shot appeared in front of him, and he downed it before he heard a voice next to him.

"You look familiar to me." The voice spoke in Russian, and was rough and gravely.

"Sorry, buddy," Constantine replied in perfect Russian, sliding the shot glass back to the bartender, indicating for a refill. "but no one looks familiar to me." He looked at the source of the voice. It was an old octogenarian, lines crisscrossed on his face, thrown into sharp relief by the dim lighting in the bar. His nose was crooked, and he was missing a few teeth under his gnarled lips. His gray hair was cropped short to his head. The damned thing was, he did look familiar to Constantine, everything did! But Constantine just couldn't remember where the hell from!

"No, no, I do remember you." The man continued, looking as if he was trying to recall details. Constantine stared at him, could this be it? Could this old man be the key he had been searching for? Disjointed images flashed in his head.

"You were here a few years ago, looking for information on some guy." The man was looking at the ceiling, trying to remember. Constantine was frozen.

"You had that little girl with you. What was her name?"

No.

"Oh yeah."

No. No. No.

"Holly Short."

Constantine snapped.

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**Also. **

**Drinking is bad. I can't stress this enough. **


	21. Revelations

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 21

Kravchenko barged into his operations booth and ordered everyone out. He was surly and mad, his employees knew enough about him to know not to second guess him when he was like this. They all left without a word. All except for one man, who stayed sitting at the main console with a grin. He had greasy black hair, slicked back and shining in the glow of the monitor. Shrewd brown eyes gleamed behind round spectacles. This with a pointed face, and a devilish grin, made him look not unlike a snake.

"That was a remarkable performance, Vladmir." The man said. He was the only one who called Kravchenko by his first name. Kravchenko glared at him.

"So it is him then?"

The man grinned back, unaffected by the disfigured man's stare. with one hand he brought up two pictures of a man, with red lines connecting the two pictures at certain points. "Yes, it is Constantine. He's shaved his head, and put on that ridiculous henna tattoo, but he hasn't aged a day in seven years. The computer's found a perfect match.

"Damnit!" Krachenko roared. "He was right there, I could've killied him with my bare hands."

"Doubtful." Offered the man. "You fired a Sentinel Rocket at him last time and it didn't kill him. I doubt you could have done him in all by yourself. Plus, you would have had to contend with the manservant Butler, and big you are, but he would have snapped you in half."

Kravchenko glared at the man. "Next time I see him, I'm going to shove a rocket down his throat. Let's see him recover from that."

"You know, there is one thing you haven't considered."

"What's that?" Kravchenko snapped.

"Why did he come back?" The man said. "He knows you hate him. Why would he come back and intentionally put himself in harms way?"

"Maybe he identified the assassins _you _sent after him." Kravchenko accused.

The man shook his head. "Doubtful. I piggybacked some satellites, and from what I saw of their attack, there wasn't much left of the assassins left to identify." The man's smile never dipped. "No, what I think is he doesn't remember anything, and is either hiring himself out as a mercenary, or, more likely, Artemis and the fairies are working towards helping him recover them."

"Why do you think the fairies are helping him again? They abandoned him last time, left his body there to rot."

"Come now, Vladmir," The man called Dragovich grinned like the devil himself. "didn't you see the shimmer?"

Ten Years ago.

Tara, Ireland.

Constantine was taking a well-deserved vacation. He had just finished a job, his last job as a matter of fact, and he wanted to see the country side. He had lived in Ireland for decades now, and he'd never really seen any of the monuments, or structures, or anything. He had decided to get a jumpstart on his trip around the old country by visiting Tara on his way back from his job. It was dark out already, but he didn't mind, that just meant he could explore a little bit more without a bunch of rowdy tourists getting in the way. Not that he was a tourist, no, he lived here, that exempted him, right?

He parked his car on a small road about one hundred yards away from the site, and walked slowly towards the supposedly magical site, relaxing in the glow of the full moon. He quickly climbed the main hill, that was what he wanted to see first, then he could go look at the other monuments.

It was truly beautiful, the green grass, the wonderful formations, all accentuated by the moonlight shimmering down on top of the hill. Wait a minute. Shimmering? Moonlight didn't cause shimmering. That was water vapor in the air. It was a cool night. But here it was, right in front of him. The whole damn site looked like it was underwater.

Constantine stood there, perplexed, studying the odd happening. The he realized, it wasn't just a mirage, or water vapor, the shimmering…..thing…. had depth. It seemed to be more than one thing, and there was one close to him. His soldier sense was going off inside his head. Something was very, very, wrong here. He reached out towards the shimmer, but he couldn't seem to grab it, it seemed to be avoiding his grasp.

Now an ordinary human would have just given up at this point, but Constantine wasn't ordinary by any means. He wasn't even sure he was human anymore, but the jury was out on that one. It was time to employ an old trick he had acquired in his war years.

He started moving his eyes back and forth, slowly at first, but soon it was picking up speed, to the point where, he'd been told, his entire eye became a flash of blue. The color blue filtered out when he did this, so he couldn't exactly tell in a mirror. He could see bullets at this speed, but he didn't see bullets. What he saw, coming into sharper and sharper focus, were 20 or 30 small….people. Some with wings, some without. There was one not far from him, female, he presumed, who seemed to be dressed in some sort of military garb. Either that or some advanced police unit. She didn't look happy to see him, and was drawing a weapon from her hip.

Constantine reacted, under the pretense that they had similar anatomies, and delivered a quick blow to the….woman's….thing's…. temple. It seemed to do the trick. His training kicked in as mass hysteria broke out amongst the other…things…around him. He scooped low, grabbing the unconscious one, and took off. His feet pumping faster than they'd had to in a long time. He wasn't sure about the physical capabilities of these beings, but there wasn't much that could catch him when he was like this. Some Kenyan kid had come close once, by the name of Bolt, but that was only close, and that was only once.

A plan started to formulate in his head, his brain racing as he dumped the thing into his trunk, quickly bound with plastic ties. It was mostly formulated off of conjecture…

Another image flashed through Constantine's eyes as the last one faded.

There was another of those short things sneaking around his house, Fairies, the other one called them. She said her name was Holly Short. She was a captain. Her serial number was 080993. She told Constantine politely that she hoped he died in a hole.

Constantine watched the little man through a crack in his blinds. Time to make an appearance.

He walked out the door, startling the fairy.

"Hello." He said. The fairy went for his gun, Constantine went for his, and brought it up first. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, I only want to talk, but I will use force if necessary."

He could see the blood rising in the fairy's face, quite the sight to see. "What have you done with my captain?" The fairy nearly shouted. Constantine smiled, this one was used to giving orders.

"Your captain? Oh good, we have management." Constantine watched as the man's face turned from blood red to purple. "Your captain is fine. No need to worry -"

"Commander Root."

Constantine gave a lavish bow, his gun remaining trained on the Commander. "Major Constantine the Seven." He said. "Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Let me see my Captain."

"Of course." Constantine agreed. Breaking about every rule in the hostage-takers rulebook. "I was going to invite you inside for negotiations anyway." Constantine made way for the commander to come in, but the fairy hesitated.

"My people know where I am."

"I would expect them too."

"I want to see my captain first."

"You will." Constantine was starting to lose his patience. However advanced this race may be, they weren't all that different from the humans.

"Good." Root waited for a moment, looking expectantly at Constantine.

"Well? Aren't you going to come in?"

"Yes." Root replied, not liking Constantine's attitude, but he went inside the house anyway.

"Wait a minute." Constantine said after a minute of quick thinking.

"What is it now mud man?"

"You can't come into my house without an invitation, can you?"

Root grumbled "No. Now take me to see my captain."

"Gladly." Constantine led the commander down to his basement, and opened the door to the bunk room, where Captain Short was sitting, handcuffed to two of the beds. When she saw Root she perked up immediately.

"C-commander!" She spoke in Gnommish, Constantine couldn't understand, but he knew orders when they were given.

"Captain! Report!" Apparently the commander wasn't great at comfort.

This threw Holly off for a moment, but she recovered. "Yes sir! I was serving control duty at Tara when the mud man came up. It appeared he could see us. I went for my weapon and he struck me across the temple and I blacked out. I woke up in the trunk of a vehicle, with plastic ties on my wrists, I melted them with my magic but I still couldn't get out. We stopped here. When he came to retrieve me I tried to fight him, but he was too strong. He even managed to throw off the mesmer. I've been here ever since."

"How did he see through the shields at Tara?" Root barked.

"I don't know exactly sir, he did something with his eyes. I've never seen anything quite like it before."

"Alright." Then paused for a moment. "Don't worry captain, we'll get you out of this soon enough."

Constantine watched this whole transaction take place. Then he spoke, after the Commander was finished. "I'm sorry about this. I really am." He seemed sincere, but he had stuffed her in a trunk. Holly spit at him.

"Let's go commander." He said, closing the door behind him and leading the way back upstairs.

He led Root into his dining, room, where a brightly lit crystal chandelier hung over a intricately carved mahogany table with a glass top. Two places were set, with ashtrays, a bottle of wine, glasses, and notepads. He had been expecting him. The sat opposite each other, where Constantine offered him a the wine. Root refused, opting instead to pour something purple out of a hip flask into one of the glasses. Then Constantine took a small wooden box off the table, and opened it, revealing a row of Cuban cigars. Root did take one of those, with delight. "Finest in the world." Constantine commented, taking and lighting one of his own, and sliding the box of matches across the table to the fairy. "Given to me by Castro himself. After I thwarted an attempt on his life by the Americans."

"Who?"

"Nevermind."

Root put his elbow on the glass of the table, pointing at Constantine with the lit end of the cigar. It looked comically large in his hand. "Look mud man-"

"Constantine."

"Whatever. We don't negotiate, not really. This is really just me letting you know where we stand. You can't escape us. We are far more technologically advanced than humans will ever be. We were in the technology age when you were discovering fire. Just let Holly go, and no one will have to die. We'll just wipe you and it'll be like all this has never happened."

Constantine thought for a moment. "I assume this "wipe" you mentioned is some sort of memory-alteration, no doubt the way your kind has escaped mass detection for so many millennia."

Root nodded. "Correct."

"Well therein lies the problem. I have no wish to lose my memories. My only demand is that I keep my memories. I will not bother the fairies, I will not reveal their existence. I have massive funds, and no reason or will to try to extort you, but I treasure my mind above all else, and I will not let you take from me that which I knew."

Root looked at the man for a moment, puffing on his cigar. "You telling me you have no greed, mud man?"

"I have greed, just not the kind you expect. I've lived long enough to know that greed in excess causes nothing but problems, and it is too easy to lose yourself in."

Root pondered what the man had said for a long while, then. "I have to talk to my superiors about this."

"Take your time." It took no time, or maybe, the images were simply speeding up in Constantine's head.

Root coming out of the next room, looking slightly disgusted. "You're one lucky mud man."

Root leading Holly out of Constantine's house, and the two of them flying away on mechanical wings.

Holly Short appearing on his doorstep a year later, saying the People needed his help dealing with a nosy Russian businessman.

The two of them in the Arctic, scoping out a steel mill from across a gorge, Constantine commenting on how he had thought they had retired.

Constantine telling Holly about his life, the two connecting over something that was unheard of amongst the mud men.

The two invading the complex, looking to mind-wipe the Russian.

The mission going horribly wrong. Gunfire exchanged. The foundry was undergoing a meltdown, the whole place was going to explode.

Constantine and Holly crossing the gorge again on a cable car.

A missile came out of no where, heading towards the cable car as the mill was engulfed in a fireball.

Constantine fired off all six of his shots from his revolver in quick succession, super heating the barrel. He Hugged Holly, and jumped out of one of the windows, the missile now heading for him, or rather, homing in on his gun's heat signature. He tossed his gun away, keeping it on a string, the missile turned towards it. Constantine kicked the missile in midair, driving it far away from himself and the cable car. He didn't mind going like this, this was a good death. The missile exploded, and everything went black.

Yaroslavl

Present day.

Constantine regained his senses in Tom's Tavern, he was screaming, and convulsing violently. Reliving the memory of being blown up can do that to a guy. Suddenly he was picked up and pressed against somebody's chest. Somebody big. Constantine still couldn't think clearly, and blacked out in the strangers grasp.

"You're kidding me." Spat Kravchenko. "She was here this entire time, and I didn't notice!"

"What do you suppose we do?" Asked Dragovich, looking a lot calmer than his boss.

"Send the German, and tell him if Fowl and his Manservant get in the way, kill them too."

Dragovich smiled. Yes, Steiner. Send Steiner. He picked up his phone and made the call.

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	22. Origins

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 22

Everyone staying in the house jumped when Butler slammed open the door. They were even more surprised when he walked in carrying a limp Constantine in his arms like a baby. Artemis was the first to regain his senses, leaving his place on the couch next to Holly for Butler to lay the unconscious man. Holly quickly followed suit as Butler started to lay the man down onto his back.

"What happened?" Artemis asked, his brow furrowed.

"I followed him to a bar named Toms Tavern. When I got inside, he started throwing a fit, screaming and breaking things. By the time I got to him he had come out of it, but he passed out when I tried to get him out of there."

"Tom's Tavern…" Holly muttered.

"Yes. It could be that there was a delayed reaction on his memories returning. The ensuing cavalcade of images, feelings, and thoughts could have overloaded his brain, sending him into a state not unlike that which happens when someone is healed after waiting too long. I think his system needed to reboot. He should wake up soon."

As if on cue, Constantine bolted up, breathing heavily. He looked at the room of people, Juliet, Holly, Artemis and Butler. "I know who I am." He said.

Artemis looked at Holly with a smug smile. "I'm so smart." She hit him.

Constantine stood up, gathering his thoughts. "Allow me to formally introduce myself." he said.

Juliet, Holly and Artemis piled onto one of the couches. Butler sat down on the other one himself. Constantine hesitated a moment, looking into the eyes of his friends.

"My name is Major Constantine the Seven. I was born in 1899 in Detroit, Michigan." He paused, expecting questions, but there were none. Simply stupefied and sceptic looks from the people around him. So he pressed on. "My name then was Jason Blaisley. When I was 17, with nothing else to do, I joined the American Army and went overseas to fight in the first world war. The year was 1916. I was fighting on the front lines with my brother during one of the German presses when my unit was cut off from the rest of the line, and everyone except for my brother and I was massacred. I was a corporal then. So was my brother.

"Amidst all of the smoke and dust and fescue, a sense of ennui encapsulated us. We just stayed there, with our wounds untreated, forgotten and dismissed. We were cut off from the rest of the world, and we just layer there, for so long, and we _wouldn't die_. When from out of the smoke came a man in a white lab coat and a woman wearing black. The man was kind-looking, brown hair combed back, and thick glasses, but he had a hard set to his jaw. He seemed a man set to do something distasteful. The woman, on the other hand, looked with pleasure at her surroundings- like she enjoyed the smell of blood and gunpowder.

"The man spoke to me and my brother in a think German accent. His name was Otto Von Pepper, a biology and chemistry professor at the University of Berlin. He told us that he had started a program for super-soldiers, funded by the allies. We were chosen to be a part of a secret inter-governmental program. we would be the six and seventh. We would be given new names, new identities. We would be trained to the highest standard, and we would fight against the enemies of the free world. They offered us an ultimatum. Join and live, or stay and die. We immediately accepted their offer.

"There were seven of us, all nobodies drawn off the battlefield, presumed missing or dead. There would be nobody missing us. We were all assigned a name and a number. I was Constantine the Seven, Brother was Severus the Six, the next down was Marcus the Four, and so on. We were going to be the worlds secret weapons.

"What they didn't tell us is how we were going to be weaponized. What they did to us it was… it was terrible. Take the most horrible pain you've been through in your life and double it. That is what we went through everyday. Some of the scars that I have were from that process. They remade our muscle structure, making it so we could operate at several times the capacity of normal humans. Then they reorganized our brains so that connections could be made within us that would allow us to instantaneously comprehend several things at once, all to make us better fighters. My IQ is 242, because that's what they wanted it to be.

"Then there was the regeneration technology. That was the worst of us all. In order to make it so we could rebuild ourselves, they had to destroy us, piece by piece. There is a scar that runs around my stomach from that process, where they literally cut me in half and put me back together. It was all worth it though, because we became faster, stronger, and smarter than any normal human could hope to become. We utilized the full capacity of the human body.

"The thing that put us above the rest, though, the thing that made us the 'Angels' as they called us, was our regeneration ability. We could take the worst possible damage a human could endure and endure it. Not only could we endure it, but we could keep fighting, we could heal from it, and we would live to fight another day.

"I should mention that we were not the first candidates for this, nor were we the last. We were simply the ones that survived. We could do the impossible, and we did several times.

"Pepper oversaw all of it. As a matter of fact, he invented the entire process. Without him there would have been no project, no 'Angels'. He was smarter than all of us, and wanted no credit for it. The man had an I.Q somewhere in the high three-hundreds, but he never rubbed it in our faces. He was our Father, and treated us all like his children. He took care of us, comforted us, healed us, he was the figurehead that united us, the thing that made us a family.

"The government, however, decided that we were to dangerous to be allowed to live. This was just after World War 2. We fought at Stalingrad, and Normandy. We held the last building in Stalingrad for 2 days waiting for reinforcements to show up. Without us, Stalingrad would have fallen, and the Allies just tossed us aside. Violently.

"They sent a joint strike force of a hundred soldiers, the best from each nation, to take us out. They failed, but they broke the back of the project. Pepper had died during the assault, our facility, our home, was destroyed. We were just left, standing in the smoke and decay of war. When the woman appeared again.

"She had aged, and less gracefully than Pepper, but she still had that air about her, that amidst those bodies and blood she was most at home. She was the devil herself, we were all scared to death of her, so naturally we all rallied around her. "She made us a private organization, and we went underground. The Allies buried us under files of the Cold War, and we rebuilt. We became soldiers of fortune, fought in wars, we killed, we protected, we didn't know how to do anything else, and doing so each of us amassed huge fortunes.

"We were betrayed again, however. This time by our own organization. The woman, Stella Hundin, was greedy, and wanted to create Angels without any….human…. deficiencies. She wanted to create Angels from what were known as 'Blanks', soldiers without personality, people built from scratch, homunculi turned into gods. We found out, and rebelled. We knew what it meant, that we were going to become obsolete, and be terminated. That was the way the organization worked, so we fought back.

"Unfortunately, which we didn't know, one of the 'Plants' as they were being referred to, had been completed, and when we went to destroy our creators, it was there, protecting them like the dumb little soldier it was. It had no speech center, we couldn't reason with it. It was a monster. We all took it on, 7 on 1, and it still killed four of us before we could silence it's damn screech. The remaining three of us took apart the organization piece by piece, leaving nothing but destruction in our wake.

"We then went our separate ways. Occasionally I met some of them on jobs, we agreed that we would never carry out a job to kill each other. There are three of us last I heard from them, I'm the only one that hasn't changed my name: Marcus the Chapel, Severus the Trap, and Constantine the Seven."

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	23. The Knife's Edge

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 23

When Constantine was finished talking, he looked away from the silent group. "So…Yeah." He said awkwardly. "I'll pay you for your trouble Artemis, I do have quite a large amount of funds, and then I'll take my leave." He started to move from the stairs.

"Is that all?" Holly said it first, breaking the silence.

"Eh?" Constantine stopped and turned towards the room. "What do you mean is that all?"

"Exactly what we said." Artemis stated. "We've fought Demons, travelled through time, I've stolen magic. Your story is extraordinary, but it is not so much that we would expect you too… What is it you said? "Take your leave"?"

"But I'm over a hundred years old!" Constantine exclaimed. "So is she." Artemis said pointing at Holly. "Actually, she is a hundred and-" His words were muffled by Holly's hand over his mouth.

"Another word and you won't wake up till you're a hundred." Holly muttered through gritted teeth.

"The point is, Constantine," Juliet continued, taking the conversation back from detraction. "We're your friends. We're not going to cast you out just cause you have an odd history. We all have an odd history."

Constantine looked at Butler the last of the group, who gave him a thumbs up.

"Heh, I see," He smiled lamely and put his hand on the back of his head. "I seem to have underestimated you guys again."

"I still expect you yo pay me, though." Artemis said.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Everyone got quiet and looked quizzically at the door. "Who is it?" Butler called.

"Uh- My name is Dr. Steiner! I heard there vas a sick man here! Passed out at the bar?" A muffled, timid-sounding voice called back.

Constantine glanced at Butler, the smile gone from his face. "Bullshit." They said simultaneously.

Constantine motioned to Butler to get everyone out of there, and that he would take care of this. Butler nodded silently and started herding the rest of the group out of the room. Before the giant left though, he handed Constantine his revolver. Butler had taken it when Constantine left to go to Tom's Tavern.

Constantine hesitated a moment, then took the gun, stuffing it down the back of his pants, with a low curse that he didn't have his holster and belt. He walked quietly to the door, then watched till everyone was safely out of the way.

"Hello?" The voice called again.

"Just a minute." Constantine called back.

Steiner stood on the doorstep in a long, tan overcoat and a matching three-piece suit. On his slick-backed blonde hair he had a tan fedora. In case anyone looked out the large front window, or if there was a hidden camera somewhere he didn't see, he stood slightly hunched over, with a timid look on his face. The door clicked as the handle turned, and Steiner reacted. He swung his right foot back, taking a firing position. He reached under his long overcoat and pulled out a sawed-off, 12 -gauge, pump-action shotgun, and fired four rounds through the door, obliterating the door and anyone behind it.

He stepped forward quietly, cautioned by the eerie silence following the loud blasts. His gun's barrel leading the way as he proceeded.

The door swung open in front of him, and Steiner beheld an empty room, spotless save for where his shot had gone into the wall. Something wasn't right, but before he could act a hand appeared through one of the holes in the door and rested on the gun, holding it firmly. Constantine looked at him and stepped out from behind the gun.

"You have to be careful with that." He said. "You could put your eye out." Steiner swore in German. The man had seen through his plan! His mark had tied a string to the doorknob to open it, anticipating the gunfire!

Steiner stepped back from the door, letting go of the shotgun and reaching under his overcoat with his left hand, and pulling out a large automatic rifle. Constantine saw it and reached for his gun, but it was too late. He heard the click of the trigger and bolted, but one of the bullets still grazed his arm. Constantine swore and ran, out maneuvering the assassins aim, but he knew that he couldn't keep it up in the enclosed space. So with one last tumble, he drew his gun and fired, hitting and smashing the automatic rifle.

Constantine smiled at the gunman. "I win." He said, his gun trained on the man.

"Constantine!" Juliet's voice rang out from the staircase. Constantine's head jerked toward it, and Steiner seized the opportunity. He threw a hidden grenade at the girl, trying to make his escape. Constantine saw the grenade fly through the air like it was falling in slow motion. He only had one chance. If he could hit the mechanism of the fuse before it reached the gunpowder, he might be able to stop it. He concentrated for half a second longer than normal, and fired. He missed. The bullet grazed the side of the grenade a the gunpowder lit. The explosion ripped across his body and threw him out a window.

Steiner made a run for it. He got out the door and down the path, but he didn't make the street before something grabbed his coat by the back of the collar, picked him up like a rag doll, and threw him on the pavement. A piecing blue eye was blackened as a gun barrel was jammed into it. With his good eye, he looked at the owner of the gun. It was Constantine. He was bloody, bruised and had glass sticking out of his shoulders and back. His face was contorted in rage, every fiber in his body shaking. There was an evil in his eye, something trying to come out. Steiner thought it looked like the devil himself, and reacted accordingly. "N-NO!" He screamed. "D-Don't….Don't kill me! Don't kill me please!" He was crying. "Please don't kill me." He was pathetic.

"Don't kill you?" Constantine growled. "What makes you think you have the right to ask me that? You murderer!" Constantine's finger trembled on the trigger. He was fighting with his principles and his rage. This man had killed her, and now he was here begging? "WHAT ABOUT HER?" His voice was cracking and demonic. "She didn't even get a chance to beg."

"I-I-"

"WHAT ABOUT JULIET!" He screamed, and slammed Steiner's head into the ground with the end of his gun. He felt something pop. There goes his eye.

"P-please.." Constantine was panting now.

"Constantine." A deep steady voice broke the chaos in Constantine's head. He looked up. In the shattered doorway was Butler, hunching and carrying an unconscious, but breathing Juliet. "I pulled her out of it just in time. She's fine. A little rest and she will be fine."

Constantine looked down at the man who had become his prey. He pulled his gun out of the man's eye, grabbing him by the collar and bringing the assassins face close to his own. "You're lucky she's alive, it's the only thing saving you." He glared right into the man's good eye, and the german fainted. Constantine looked up at Butler, who stood there holding his sister. "I'm sorry, Butler, I wasn't good enough to-"

"Stop." Butler's voice rang out deep and clear. "You did everything you could. I appreciate that. Plus, you went that far to the edge for her. I know what it takes to go there. We're square." Constantine stared at the large, dangerous - and gentle - man.

"Thank you Butler."

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	24. Price of Immortality

**I do not Own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 24

Constantine sat in his room, with a magically revived juliet pulling glass shards out of his back. He sat despondent, bathing in his own ennui; hating himself for not being able to protect the gentle woman now healing him. Despite the painful experience, he did not say a word. He just sat there, blank eyes staring out at the white-tinted town, his back hunched and his head tilted off to the side.

"You're lucky none of these went deeply in." Juliet said, pulling out another bloody fragment and placing it onto what was once a virgin towel.

"Yeah." Constantine grunted in reply.

Silence ensued. Artemis and Butler were downstairs, explaining things to the Russian police: how an assassin was sent by one of Artemis' Father's enemies, and was dispatched by one of Artemis' bodyguards. The police wanted to question the bodyguard, but Artemis refused the request, informing them that the carnage and the man were all they needed. The police let it go.

After the police had left with Steiner in tow, Constantine could hear Butler commenting to Artemis "Ah, the Russian police system. They make my job so easy."

Holly shimmered into existence next to him, peering out the window at the retreating car.

"So they're gone? That was it? I expected them to search the house or something. The LEP at least would have insisted to talk to you."

"The Russian police are notoriously bad." Juliet said, wiping some blood off of Constantine's back. "Could you heal these?" She asked Holly.

"Sure." As Holly put her hands on Constantine's bare back he got goosebumps. The sparks started to flow over him, sealing cuts replicating blood. She didn't know. She was doing this for him, and she still didn't know the truth. The thought threw his depression deeper. She had to know. She had that right, but knowing could result in the end of the dream, the end of her pretty little illusion of a life. Constantine wasn't sure, but he had an idea. Like Artemis, he could make little connections and find the most probable answers at a breakneck speed, but there was always that little room for error. There was always that room for hope.

He stood up as he felt the last of the gashes in his skin knit back together, breaking off the physical connection between him and Holly.

"Wait, I haven't replicated all of the blood you lost yet."

"You've done a more than sufficient job, Captain. Don't worry, my regenerative capabilities will take care of the rest."

Holly looked hurt, but Juliet broke in before she could say anything. "Just how extensive are your regenerative capabilities?"

Constantine thought for a moment. "I was the last of the "angels" that was made, so I received the most advanced regeneration technology, the full extent of which has never been tested. So truly the extent to which I can heal from is uncharted."

"No doubt the cause for your extended lifespan." Artemis broke in. Holly and Juliet jumped at how silently he had entered the room. Behind him, Butler ducked underneath the doorframe.

"Yes, whenever my muscle weakens, it is nearly instantly replaced. My skin never fades, my liver never gives out, my lungs never deteriorate-"

"How come it hasn't taken care of your tuberculosis then?" Butler cut him off. Artemis and Holly were both shocked by this revelation.

"I don't know. I've had the disease as long as I can remember, since before I joined the Army probably. It has never gone away, and it has not killed me yet."

Then, Artemis asked the question that was at the forefront of everyone's mind. "Can you die?"

"Eventually, yes. The human mind is not made to work for this long. If I am alive long enough, then my mind will deteriorate, gaps will appear in my memory, I will lose control of myself. If I live long enough, these powers I have will deteriorate, I will become a normal human, and I will die. My brain will forget to function properly, and I will die of a massive cardiac arrest. It's not a pretty sight." He looked at his companions: Artemis, who looked at him with both curiosity and concern, Juliet and Holly, who looked equally horrified at the prospect, and Butler, who seemed to understand his fellow warrior, and the weight they carried.

"Is there anything we can do?" Artemis asked.

"No. In fact, the process has already started." Constantine touched the hair on the back of his head unconsciously. "I keep it at bay with chemicals and medicines, but I will soon run out of those. That being said," He added with a smile, the first smile he had shown since the attack. "I will still probably outlive most of the people here."

But Holly persisted. "But there must be something, magic, or-" Constantine held up his hand to cut her off. "Holly, I have lived a long life, I am ready to accept my fate when it comes to me, even if my body was sustained through magic, my mind would be gone. That is not a fate I wish to endure."

Holly fell silent. Constantine looked at Artemis, who nodded, understanding.

"But there is something I have to tell you." He continued. Artemis knew this was coming; with the return of Constantine's memories would come the revelation of the connection between him and Holly.

"You want to tell me how I know you, don't you?" Holly said.

"Well - I … Yes. How did you know?"

"I may not be a genius, but I'm not entirely stupid." Holly said, with a grin.

"No, I guess not." Constantine smiled again. Holly's grin turned to a scowl and she hit him for the insult. Constantine laughed off the blow, and Holly shouted at him.

"Just tell me d'arvit before I use my neutrino to see if you can regenerate your brain from a molten sludge." Constantine decided to tell her before she used her neutrino to see if he could regenerate his brain from a molten sludge.

"It all started ten years ago. You were posted as a guard at Tara, I was on what was supposed to be my last job…" Holly, and everyone else in the room, listened as Constantine relayed details of the past to them. When he began, a faint remembrance of everything he was telling her came. Soon though, it was rushing back, the ruined memories of a not-to-distant past that had been stolen from her, and she remembered.

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	25. Digressio

**I do Not Own Artemis Fowl. **

Chapter 25

A familiarity came to Holly as everything about the town they had experienced so far, not only a familiarity with Yaroslavl, but a familiarity with Constantine as well. Not only did she know him from somewhere else, they had spent four months in this frond-forsaken town scouting out that damned Kravchenko. He had discovered the fairies some time ago, and the fairies hired Constantine as an above-ground consultant to find out how much the crazy Russian really knew. Eventually, Constantine and Holly infiltrated Kravchenko's compound, hoping to find the man and wipe him of everything regarding fairies, magic, and underground civilizations, but things went wrong. Then, things went horribly wrong.

Holly sat on the bed, her fists shaking in rage. The recollection hadn't been violent, the way Constantine's was. Her memories came back to her in a calm, peaceful way, like she had finally remembered a word that had been on the tip of her tongue for so long, but she couldn't quite enunciate. That was why it was wrong. The return of her memories was like when Artemis' memories returned to him, after he was wiped. This wasn't amnesia she had from the fall off the gondola, she had been wiped. She remembered waking up two weeks after the explosion in a hospital in Haven. Root was there, so was Foaly. They all smiled, and fed her a well-cooked story about what had happened in the gaps in her memories. It was all lies.

It was at that moment that the Holly's off-helmet communicator rang. It had been lying on the bed next to Holly, she glared at it, but Artemis picked it up first, and answered it.

"Hello?" Foaly's voice called out after a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry, Major Short is not here to answer your call at the moment, please leave your name and number after the beep." Artemis tossed the small rectangle to Butler, who took the hint.

"Beep." he said, and crushed it in a massive fist.

"Why'd you do that?" Holly asked, still livid.

"Because, if you tell the LEP that your memories have returned, they will do one of two things. They will try to suppress them again, for which they will come to get you, or they will beg forgiveness. If they do the former, I do not wish them to do so here. Contrary to what Foaly thinks, I can fight off the entire LEP. I've done it once, and for you I would gladly do it again, but I cannot do it here. We have to get back to the manor."

Holly looked at him, her eyes shown with tears. She jumped up from the bed and embraced him, burying her face into his suit. "Thank you, Artemis." Artemis returned the embrace in response.

"I will never let you go."

He broke off the embrace as Butler and Juliet squeezed by him, going to pack up their things and get the car ready. The had to leave now. Constantine, however, didn't move. Artemis and Holly looked at him.

"You two go." He said. "I have to take care of some unfinished business here. I'll return as soon as I can to assist you."

"Unfinished business?"

"Yep, somebody once shoved a missile down my throat in this city once, and I've yet to return the favor."

"We could use you if they decide to raid."

"Their going to want me too." Constantine said, "It's better to have an enemy fighting on two fronts, if they do turn out to be our enemy. If not, then I'll see you again soon – Hopefully."

Holly eyed the man, new memories and old ones mixing, and a feeling of affection resurfacing. She walked over to him and hugged him, taking Constantine by surprise. He started for a moment, then returned her embrace.

"Holly-"

"You're a fool." She cut him off. "You may be a genius, but like Arty, you're a fool. The exact same type of idiot that would take on the entire LEP by himself. And now you're going to go off, attacking someone who beat us before, and you're probably going to die doing it." She looked up at him, her eyes watering. The sight nearly broke Constantine's heart. He wanted to tell her she was wrong, that he would come back with them, go back home and live happily ever after, but he couldn't. Life just didn't work that way. There were things he needed to take care of. He wouldn't be able to rest until they were. Lives would be put in danger if they weren't.

"Yes, I am a fool, but I won't die. I promise, I'll be back soon."

Holly looked at him, a defiant gleam in he eyes. "You better keep that promise, or I'll kill you myself."

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." He smiled at her.

"Obstinate fool." She muttered. She walked back over to Artemis, kissed him on the cheek, told him she had to get her stuff together, and left. That left only Artemis and Constantine in Constantine's room. The looked at each other awkwardly.

"I'll call you when I get back," Constantine said. "if the fairies do attack, I'll hit them from the side, if they haven't already got to me. I'll try to break through and cause a little bit of havoc in their camp. They'll go whole hog on this one. Blue rinse, everything. They'll be trying to hide their mistakes.

Artemis nodded. "I know. Are you sure you wish to do this?"

Constantine nodded this time. "It's got to be done."

"Yes." Artemis agreed. "Be careful."

"You too."

A half-hour later, Butler, Juliet, Artemis and Holly were all back in the car, and driving away from the ruined house. Constantine stood outside the house, dressed in all black, contrasting with the white snow and bright cottages around him, waving at the group as they drove away. Artemis was in the back seat of the car with Holly, and waved at Constantine's shrinking figure through the back window. Holly was sullen, but she looked back at him anyway, and he was gone.

Deep underground, Foaly was meeting with Vinyaya in the Ops Booth. Things were going awry very fast. Papers were scattered everywhere, Foaly had all seven of his supercomputers running at full speed. There was the slight hum of coolant being piped around the consoles that added to the din of the Wing Commander.

"What do you mean you THINK she has her memories back?" Vinyaya was livid.

Foaly breathed deeply trying to control himself. "I received satellite imaging showing that there was an attack on the manor they were staying in in Russia. Constantine repelled the attack. I called to make sure Holly was alright, and Artemis answered."

"Why would he answer for her?"

"I'm getting to that, Commander."

"I don't think I like your attitude, centaur."

"No one ever does. Like I was saying, Artemis answered for her, said Holly wasn't available, and then the line was cut off. I haven't been able to get through to her since."

Vinyaya's eyes narrowed in thought. "I was afraid this would happen. What happened to Willow?"

"She sent in her resignation this morning."

"WHAT?"

"Yes, I don't know what happened, but she sent in her report this morning, saying she failed in her mission to dispatch the mud man and her resignation was attached. Maybe it has something to do with a soldier's professional pride or some other similar notion."

"I doubt it." Vinyaya's fists were clenched and her knuckles whitening. "It's that mud man, he has that effect on people. He changes them, that's how he got to Holly in the first place. That's how he negotiated his way with Root." Vinyaya let out a sigh. "The good Commander's biggest mistake was letting the mud man go."

"It wasn't a mistake, he didn't kill needlessly." Foaly said through gritted teeth. "He didn't even want to wipe Holly, you know that, he fought the Council for a week on that decision."

"He was getting soft then. It's the same type of decision making paradigm that led to his death."

Foaly slammed his big fist on the control council, an unusual act of defiance for the timid centaur, but this was enough, he couldn't stand for her insulting the commander that way. "Don't you think we've had enough? Everything is falling apart around our pointy ears and all we can do is lie about it! We should tell Holly the truth, we should appeal to Constantine ask him for forgiveness, we should do what we couldn't, or wouldn't, ten years ago!"

Vinyaya, glared at Foaly. "No, we shoudln't, _civilian, _And if you ever try to order me around again I'll have you deported to one of the centaur colonies under the Hawaiin volcanoes and exiled from Haven, you understand me?"

"Try it, see if you can get these computers working without me." There was silence, this was the first time Foaly had every called one of these bluffs. They stared at each other.

"The fact of the matter is this, that man is dangerous. He is a danger to every fairy under and above-ground and mostly to Holly. This is my decision, this is the Council's decision, and that is how we're going to act." Foaly fell silent. "Where is Holly now?"

"The last image I could pick up was Holly with Artemis and company driving into Moscow Airport." Foaly replied in a defeated monotone.

"So they're running. Send a retrieval squad to Fowl Manor. Where's Constantine?"

"Still in Yaroslavl."

"Send our next fairy after him. We must end this." Her voice was cold, calculating. Foaly didn't move as she left the Ops Booth, and when she was gone, he sent a quick prayer to whatever gods may have existed for bot Constantine, and Artemis. He knew Holly liked Artemis, and the mud boy possessed something in the way of feelings towards her. He was their ally, their friend, and he didn't deserve this.

It was then Foaly decided to do something, he couldn't go to the council, they had made their decision, and weren't known to change their minds, but with a quick movement of his hands, he opened up his email browser and sent two secured emails: one to the next assassin in line on the payroll, and the second to the home address of Willow Berry.

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	26. Friends in High Places

**I do not own Artemis Fowl. Eoin Colfer does. **

Chapter 26

It was an odd sight for people flying out of Russia that day. A matte-black jet sitting on the runway with its doors open and engines firing up. It wasn't connected to the airport, but four passengers were walking briskly towards the stairs leading into the plane. One was a giant of a man dressed in an all black suit, another, a young boy with raven-black hair and pale skin that seemed to blend in to the snow around them. Behind them were two young women, a blonde, and a redhead. The blonde was tall and lean, and had the same look about her as the giant, but the redhead was small. So small that some of the passengers could easily have mistaken her for a child, if it wasn't for the odd proportions of an adult woman she had.

A few bored passengers waiting for their plane to arrive were sitting at one of the many look-alike gray gateways, in the uncomfortable chairs, looking out the broad window that spanned the side of the wall and observing the spectacle. Some VIP, they had been told, had requested immediate exit of the country, and that was why they had been waiting so long. So the ones that were paying attention let out an internal groan, some even coupled that with a roll of the eyes, when the young man – the apparent VIP – stopped just before the jet.

Holly nearly ran straight into Artemis' back, her quick reflexes was the only thing that prevented her from swallowing a mouthful of Armani suit.

"Artemis, what is it? Its cold and windy here, can we do this inside? I don't do well in the cold."

She sounded winy, but Artemis understood, she was dealing with a bunch of new and confusing emotions at the moment, it was enough to make the most stoic person irritable. Artemis ignored her.

"Butler." He called out to his oldest, and most faithful friend. The giant looked at the young boy, for no matter how old he was starting to look, no matter how much he had dealt with in his life, he was still just that: a boy, but he didn't look his normal self. His hair was messy, and blowing in the biting wind, which Artemis didn't even seem to notice. He was just wearing a suit, but he didn't seem to notice the cold. Yes, his teeth were chattering and he was quite literally shaking in his shoes, but it didn't seem to bother him. Behind his eyes there was an odd confusion, something that was undeniably foreign to the young genius. It struck Butler how similar Artemis and Constantine really were, two people who were trying to reconcile the men they were with the men they were becoming.

"Yes, Artemis?"

"I don't think this is right." Holly and Juliet gawked at this, but Butler remained stone-faced. "We shouldn't be running like this and leaving Constantine behind."

"What are you talking about Artemis?" Holly shouted at him. "Staying behind was Constantine's own decision, he's always been like this: selfish and stubborn."

"That's not it." Artemis looked at her with two mismatched eyes. "He stayed behind because of Kravchenko. He's seen us, Holly, and will come after us and probably already has with Steiner. Constantine is staying behind to buy us time to get away, but we should not be running away."

Holly stared at him, his black hair blowing across his face. "What about the LEP? You said it yourself you can't fight them here."

"I can't, but to be honest, we don't know to what extent they've mobilized yet. When I kidnapped you, Commander Root was moving about before I even got home. We could be flying into a trap for all we know." Artemis looked at Butler.

Butler nodded, this conversation was all moot, either way. They could probably neither fight off the LEP again, nor run from them. Last time they had won because they held all the cards, and it was still uncomfortably close. Now Artemis and the LEP were closer to an even keel, but Artemis and Holly couldn't exactly run either, with Foaly's control's of government satellites. That only left one option, and Butler didn't even want to think about that.

Artemis nodded in response. "Then let's go back, we don't have much time to waste."

In a airport Terminal in Moscow, where a flight was being held up by a private jet owned by some VIP, a collective groan was let out amongst the passengers, and one vocal passenger even shouted a "Come on!", as the group of VIP's left the runway. A harried airline attendant informed them all that they would have to wait another half-hour till they could board.

Constantine had friends in high places from the old days, he also had friends in low places, it was good for him that he now remembered these friends, and after a couple phone calls, they remembered him. He called in several favors in Moscow, as well as making a few calls to some buddies he had in the old KGB. Unsurprisingly it was a bit of a shock when they heard his voice again, sounding young nonetheless, after years of presuming that he had died, but they were happy to oblige him, after a few identity checks, with whatever he needed, and then some, simply so he would owe them a favor. It was that kind of power and reputation that Constantine held in the old underworld. These young types know almost nothing of him, disappearing for ten years can do that to a guy, but it was the old Kremlin guards, the CIA spooks, and the MI6 goons that knew, and feared, him. He was something of a myth amongst those that remembered, simply passed down to the younger generation as the immortal mercenary, whom many had boasted to have bested, but none ever did, codenamed "ghost dog". It was because of these contacts that he managed to get a modified, four-wheel drive armored sedan. As well as fully insulated snow-white battle gear, and a white .50 caliber Barrett sniper rifle with explosive rounds and a night-vision scope.

At the moment, it was dark out, and he was lying prone on the roof of the car, which was positioned so that it sat behind a snow drift just a mile out of Kravchenko's compound. He was using the night-vision scope to scout out the perimeter. It was 11 o' clock so there weren't going to be many innocent personnel around, just guards, and Kravchenko. Constantine knew he hadn't left yet, he had been watching for a while.

Two on the bridge now, in the middle of a guard shift. It was go time. He aimed the massive weapon at the empty guard tower, he didn't want to kill anyone, but scared pissless, that he was okay with. His leather-gloved finger slipped under the trigger guard to the specially-modified hair trigger. He slowed his breathing down, and felt for the gaps in his heartbeat; it wasn't exactly a small or moving target, but it was still a mile away, and this was no time to get sloppy.

He heard the soft crunch of snow, loud in the dead silence around him. He rolled his eyes, even the wind had died down, and now some asshole had to go and blow this perfect chance for him.

"Don't move, mud man." Constantine heard the soft hum of a weapon that sounded similar to the one that last elf had come with. Great. It turns out that "some asshole" was an elf, and armed. He had to hand it to the LEP, though, the moved quickly. Once he dealt with this poor fool he would have to call Artemis and warn him that his manor was probably already overrun, if it wasn't too late, it's not like he had anything else to do that night. "Put the cannon down or I turn your torso into a doughnut." Constantine nearly laughed as he pushed the "cannon" into the snow. Different species, same dumb machismo. "Now turn around slowly."

Constantine did as he was told, and viewed a short, male elf standing in a half-melted puddle of snow. He must have had some sort of heating system in his black suit. "You're good." Constantine smiled as he complemented the fairy, sitting up slowly. "First time anybody has been able to sneak up on me when I wasn't half-unconscious in a while."

The hit-elf Constantine warily, and raised his deadly-looking laser level with Constantine's chest, which was several degree's upwards from the fairy's, as Constantine was still on the car. Constantine's eyes widened quickly. Shit. This wasn't exactly ideal. Not only was the fairy good, but he meant business.

Then, a pulsing blue beam appeared from the ether, and slammed into the small fairy, sending him flying into the very snowdrift Constantine had been hiding behind. Constantine reacted quickly, sliding off the front end of the car and ducking for cover. He pulled a small-caliber hand gun out of his coat. He wouldn't use his revolver on a fairy, the bullets were too big, but this thing could incapacitate nicely if need be. With a free hand he ripped the snow goggles he had on down from his face, and started vibrating his eyes.

"Holly?" he called out, looking around.

"Not exactly." the voice was feminine, and familiar. He peered over the hood of the car, and saw the same elf who had come for him before, holding a what looked like a newer model of Holly's neutrino.

"You here for me?" Constantine asked.

"Sorta, I got a message from a friend saying I had a chance to pay you back, so I came. We're even."

"Thanks. Er, could you unshield so I can stop doing this? If I do it for too long it gives me a headache." He smiled at her stupidly.

Willow unshielded and Constantine's eyes settled. She rolled her eyes at him. "Geez, how'd I ever get beat by a softie like you?"

Constantine laughed nervously, worried he was going to have to fight her again. "Just lucky I guess."

Willow eyed him devilishly. "What's your name, anyway? The file I got on you didn't say, there was a lot of black bars."

"Yes, the LEP has done a thorough job trying to erase me, I feel like Moses."

"Who?"

"Nevermind. My name's Constantine, by the way, and yours?"

"Willow, Willow Berry."

"Constantine the Seven." They shook hands. I think I should put an aside here that these so called "landmark moments" seem to happen quite often nowadays, at what point do they become just moments?

Willow walked over to the unconscious hit man and dragged him out of the snow drift, and started to cuff with vacumm-cuffs. "What kind of last name is "the Seven"?"

Constantine shrugged. "My kind of last name. What kind of last name is "Berry"?"

Willow stopped tying the elf to her moonbelt for a moment. "Good point." She said, and then she resumed her business.

"What are you going to do with him?"

"Drop him in the Atlantic somewhere." Seeing Constantine's shocked face, she added: "I'm kidding. Im going to take him down to police plaza in Haven, that's our main city, and claim a citizens arrest for possession of an illegal weapon. I'm an ordinary citizen now, I quit my job with the LEP."

Constantine smiled softly at her. "That's good, really, but don't you feel like your betraying your former comrade, and your people, by helping me?"

Willow looked at the elf now attached to her lip, then at Constantine. "It's true that I am going against my people's code, but this man, and the LEP, are your enemies. I feel no remorse in cutting them down."

Constantine stared at the fairy in front of him, shocked at the profession, then smiled tenderly at her. "I guess that makes us friends then."

Willow grinned. "The enemy of my enemy." She held up a fist, as did Constantine, and they bumped their forearms together. "I guess I'll be seeing you." She said, as her mechanical wings started to beat and she shimmered out of existence.

"Constantine vibrated his eyes to see her as she started to fly away. "Not if I see you first." And as quickly as she had appeared, she disappeared into the night.

"Constantine!" A voice called out from behind a particularly high snowbank. Then, Butler, Juliet, Holly and bringing up the rear, Artemis, came from over the top of it, covered head to toe in white clothes specifically designed to keep one warm in the arctic, and looking altogether bulkier because of it. Constantine, for the umpteenth time that night, probably a new world record, was shocked.

"Wha – What the hell are you guys doing here?" Did he just stutter?

"We could ask you the same thing." Juliet said, flipping the jade ring tied to her hair.

"Yeah, we've been looking for you all over this freaking 'burg." Butler growled.

"Yes, I've been doing what those silly American detectives call 'legwork'. I must say it does not suit me at all." Huffed Artemis.

"Oh stop being such a baby." Reprimanded Juliet. "You can run three miles without stopping now."

"Yes, in a gym, on a treadmill, the Arctic is an entirely different matter." Artemis riposted. Throughout the entire conversation, Holly had stayed quiet, and was clutching her stomach. Artemis noticed first. "Are you alright, Holly?"

"Yes, just starving, we haven't had much to eat today."

Artemis put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll make you something as soon as we get back."

Holly blanched. "What are you trying to do? Make me sick?"

Artemis rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll have Juliet make you something when we get back."

Constantine cut in. "Not that this isn't touching at all, but what the hell is going on? Why are you guys back?"

"We came to help you." Juliet stated plainly. Butler started to inspect Constantine's equipment.

"Where did you get this stuff?"

"I have friends in high places. What do you mean, you came to help me?"

"Face it, Constantine, last time we were here, they weren't ready for us and they kicked our asses, what do you expect to do now?"

"Well I did have a plan." Constantine said, annoyed at the implied incompetence.

"How much of that plan didn't involve you running like hell?"

Constantine thought for a moment. "About thirty percent, but-"

Juliet slapped him on the shoulder. "Exactly, so now we're here to help you."

Constantine stared incredulously at them. "Don't you have some running and hiding of your own to do?"

"Nah, we can always do that later."

Artemis shrugged. "You're our friend, Constantine, and if there is one thing that I learned from Holly, it's that friends stick together."

Constantine was silent for a moment, then he started laughing. "I seem to have a lot of friends now."

The group smiled collectively at him. "Speaking of which," Butler interjected. "what was that blue flash that drew us over here?"

"Yeah, it looked kinda like a neutrino beam." Said Holly.

Constantine had opened his mouth to tell them, but then he thought that Willow probably didn't want her involvement in this known by any more than needed to know, so he said simply: "Just a friend." Everyone looked at him skeptically, he just shrugged. He looked at Artemis. "Do you plan on joining in the assault?"

"Normally I would say no, that I would rather just coordinate from the sidelines, but seeing as how we have a price on our heads, and me staying alone would be a poor decision tactically, I guess I'll have to come."

"Alright, then we'll have to go back to town, there are things we must arrange, and I'll have to teach you how to shoot."

"Butler has been coaching me on marksmanship."

"Yes, but not for what we are about to go up against, I'm going to teach you how to fight a war." Constantine looked around. "Wait a minute, did you guys walk here?"

Holly nodded. "Unfortunately, yes, we didn't have anything that wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb if we started driving it around the freezing tundra."

Constantine grinned. "Well luckily, I do, and she handles oh so sweetly."

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**Longest chapter yet, woohoo!**


	27. Pawn takes Queen

**I Do Not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 27

Artemis was not a very physical person, but he was nothing if not dedicated, and the thing he hated the most was being told that he couldn't do something. It was his genius' pride, the ability to be able to do anything was his most treasured personal trait. Still, when Juliet and Holly came into the indoor shooting range that Constantine had rented for the day and found Artemis Fowl the Second running suicides across the range at eight o'clock in the morning, the were a little more than surprised.

"How'd you get him to do it?" Juliet asked Constantine and Butler, who were sitting at a small, white, circular table reading the morning's newspaper and drinking coffee. To be honest, the two besuited men looked quite quaint against the silver and blue background of the facility.

"Present it as a challenge." Constantine said. Butler nodded in agreement.

"Something to be achieved, not done." He added.

"Really?" Holly questioned, looking skeptical.

Butler and Constantine glanced at each other. "Sorta." They said in unison.

"Sorta?"

"We bet him 300 American dollars each that he couldn't do a hundred." Butler said, looking shamelessly back at his newspaper.

"That sounds more like it."

"How many has he done?"

"Seventy-five, it's actually quite impressive, he hadn't shown much sign of slowing down until the last five, and he's still keeping up quite a pace."

Holly and Juliet pulled up chairs to the small, spindle-legged table and waited with Constantine and Butler as Artemis ran up and down the field. He made it to eighty, then eighty-five, around ninety he started slowing down considerably. Sweat was pouring off of his body, and he was breathing heavily. His footsteps, which had been light, athletic, and quick, were now coming heavy and labored. Still, his brow was furrowed in concentration, and he showed no signs of wanting to give up. At ninety-five suicides, though, he tripped and went crashing down into one of the blue mats that lined the floor.

Holly jumped from her seat and Constantine called for Artemis to stop. Artemis looked at himself with disgust, somewhat ignoring the already fantastic achievement, but his look changed to one of concern as soon as he laid eyes on the diminutive elf.

"Holly, are you feeling alright? You look a little pale." He jumped up, ignoring is racing pulse and shaking hands and went to dote on her.

"Yes I'm fine, you dolt, but you reek." She laughed and pushed him away, but her look softened as she saw the concern stay in his face. "I'm feeling a little under the weather," She said softly. "But I'm sure it's just because of the cold, I'll be fine."

"Alright, but I want you to go with Juliet to a local drug store this morning and pick up some cold medicine."

"I will"

Constantine rolled his eyes and pushed Artemis away from Holly. "Alright, loverboy, we get it, you have feelings now, thats nice, but right now we're trying to get rid of those feeling and turn you into a cold-blooded soldier. So go shoot the target."

"About that-"

"No." Constantine cut him off, and handed him a .38 caliber pistol. "Shoot. Now. While your heart rate is still up.

Artemis begrudgingly took the pistol, and the stance Butler had taught him, aiming at the target 25 meters away downrange.

Constantine set down seven loaded clips onto the counter of the booth the two were in. "Fire the rounds as fast an as accurately as you can, never taking more than 3 seconds on any shot. When you're done with that magazine, reload, and do it again. Rinse and repeat."

Artemis nodded, aimed, fired, and missed. He emptied the clip and reloaded, settling down into a rhythm, and his shots started to hit the target.

A few hours later, Holly and Juliet came back, both their cheeks were rosy from the cold. Artemis was covered in sweat, and down to a wife-beater and black sweatpants. His brow was furrowed in concentration that Holly thought he reserved only for scheming. The din of shots firing filled the range, rattling off of the metal walls. Holly watched him for a moment, smoothly firing shot after shot with one hand. Then she noticed blood dripping down his fingers.

"Artemis!" she gasped, and his concentration was broken. He put the matte black pistol onto the firing deck, and pulled two yellow earplugs out of his ears.

"Yes?" he asked, wondering why she interrupted him.

"Your hand.."

Artemis looked down and examined the blood on his hand with interest, like he hadn't noticed it before. "I seem to have developed a blister on my finger that burst, how rogue of me." He smiled at her.

This had her even more taken aback. Artemis was cracking _jokes?_ Admittedly it was a horrible one, but still, this was Artemis, who had the sense of humor of a snail in salt. His time around Constantine must be taking quite an effect on him.

"Yes, that'll happen." Constantine chimed in, standing up from the corner he had been waiting in. he pulled a strip of bandage out of a bag sitting on that table and walked over to Artemis. He took Artemis' hand and wrapped a small amount around the blister, where the bandage immediately turned scarlet. Holding Artemis' hand, he looked Artemis in the eye for a second, pulling the gauze tight around itself. "No homo."

At this Juliet nearly busted out of her parka laughing, while both "Take a five minute break, and we're going to get started on hand to hand combat for an hour, then get back to shooting."

"Juliet is teaching me how to fight."

"Yes," Constantine said, walking away and cracking his neck ominously. "But I'm actually going to hit you."

Remembering the punching bags with the holes in the sides in Constantine's basement, Artemis gulped.

Holly studied Artemis, his slender frame accentuated in the loose, baggy clothing. While at the same time, every muscle in his arms and chest stood out from the other from the work he had been doing, and they gleamed with sweat. Despite the fear he was trying to hide on his face, his jaw was set, and a vein pulsed in his neck. He reminded her of their first night together, he looked unsure, but ready to prove himself, confident in his own prowess, ready to take on a new challenge, something to master, and so _sexy_.

She hugged him, despite the smell. Artemis was a little taken aback from the sudden display of affection, but after a moments hesitation, he returned her embrace.

"Are you alright?" He asked, genuine concern in his voice. "feeling a little better?"

"Yes, I think the cold was just getting to me a bit. Juliet and I went shopping, then warmed up at the hotel for a while."

"Good, I wouldn't want you getting sick, especially in the mornings." Artemis chuckled to himself, and Holly laughed nervously."

"Alright, chop chop time to get going."

"That was five minutes?"

"Close enough." Constantine's shirt was off, and his hands were tapped up, probably by Butler, who was sitting in the corner watching the scene unfold intently. Juliet had taken a spot next to him, and was watching with equal fervor. Constantine started bouncing on the balls of his feet, raising and dropping his arms like a boxer about to step into the ring.

Without taking his eyes off of Constantine, Artemis gently pushed Holly away from him, and took the Kenpo stance Juliet had taught him. Constantine had that gleam in his eyes again, the same one Artemis noticed in the library in Constantine's basement; a shit-eating grin like a boxer gave you before he broke three of your ribs in. Artemis gulped again, this was not going to be pretty.

It wasn't.

A half-hour later, Constantine tagged Artemis' face again. Artemis's vision burst a flash of white, then settled down again. He couldn't touch Constantine, he could barely block some of the punches, and when he was able to counter Constantine read it quickly and shut it down immediately.

"C'mon!" Constantine shouted at Artemis. "Use your brain for chris'sakes! Think!"

Artemis blocked an open-hand slap and punched wildly, which Constantine dodged easily. "You're not supposed to THINK!" Artemis shouted, getting angry for the first time. "You're supposed to train until it's instinct!"

"NO." Constantine grabbed Artemis by the jaw and pulled him close to his face. "That's for ordinary people, not us, for people who can't do what we do. It's just like a game of chess, you plan moves ahead, and out-plan your opponent." He released Artemis and got into a boxing stance again.

Artemis retracted back into the kenpo stance. He watched Constantine carefully, looking for tells, observing everything, just like he did when he schemed against Spiro. Constantine threw a right jab, and just before, Artemis noticed a twitch in his left foot. Artemis lowered his forehead to break Constantine's knuckles, but Constantine pulled out of it just in time, dancing his feet around to hit Artemis again, but this time Artemis was read; he had a plan.

Artemis moved quickly, stuffing a left hook then distracting Constantine with a series of jabs. This went on for thirty seconds, during which Artemis had planned seventy moves. Constantine was backing up at this point, when suddenly-

SMACK.

Artemis had landed a backfist on Constantine's face, breaking his nose. Constantine reeled back, shaking off the white flash. No matter how many times he got hit, that flash was always there. "Good!" he told Artemis. "Very good, now I can actually ramp it out, let's see if we can get this down."

Artemis' eye's widened. Shit.

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******sorry this chapter took so long, the next should be coming soon. **


	28. The Giant and the Gentle

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 28

Artemis woke up aching the next morning; Holly was lying next to him, absentmindedly and probably unconsciously – as Artemis was sure she was still asleep – rubbing his back. It wasn't hard enough to actually rub out the soreness, but the occaisional lazy spark would roll down her fingers and sink into his muscles, repairing the tiny micro-cracks that had appeared in them the night before.

Grudgingly, Artemis rolled over away from Holly, who responded by turning over and cuddling with the duvet, and slipped out of the bed. He rolled his shoulders as he walked to the bathroom, ignoring the small digital clock blinking 11:00AM at him in red. He stared at himself in the mirror, turning over his own face in his hands, several bruises and a black eye from the night before were gone; magicked away by Holly. His nose had been broken as well, Holly took care of that immediately. He gently turned and tweaked his nose, there was no pain, no clicking, nothing to indicate that the day before Constantine had turned it sideways.

Holly was quite good at this healing thing, probably second only to the warlocks, Artemis thought. It was just a pain that the amount of magic available was so limited. The gears in his head started turning, shaking away the blur of the morning, trying to think of ways to boost the input of magic into a fairy, and then store it in larger amounts.

"Aaartemis?" Holly groaned from the bed. The noise broke him from his thoughts and he turned around to see her rolling over, her petit, elfin frame still tangled in the beige and green bedsheets. "What are you doing up already? It's only..." She glanced at the clock. "11... Ok maybe we slept in.".

Artemis grinned at her; a grin reminiscent of a vampire. "Perhaps just a bit." He turned from her and grabbed his toothbrush from out his black travel bag. He was halfway through brushing his teeth when Holly came up and wrapped her arms around his waist and stomach, she started swaying her hips, semi-forcing his to move in the same serpentine motion with hers. Needless to say, Artemis was slightly taken aback by this. "Mmmhhhjmruumm?" he tried to say. His hands now in the air above his head, one still holding the toothbrush.

"Yes?" Holly was nuzzling against the small of his back, the sensation sent chills up his spine, in a good way.

Artemis spat the remainder of the toothpaste into the sink so he could speak. "What are you doing?"

"Hmmmm." All Holly gave in reply. He hand started circling under his white undershirt, with her fingers occasionally slipping under his waistband. Artemis' eyes widened, and he quickly washed the rest of the toothpaste out of his mouth.

"Holly, I hate to tell you this, but I am _very _sore and I'm not-" He was cutoff by Holly squeezing his abdomen so tightly that it cut off the rest of his sentence. He looked back at her with a very confused look on his face, a bit of a landmark moment for him. She stared back at him with angry, pouting eyes. He gulped.

Holly started dragging him by the back of his shirt, he managed to say "Oh-", and no doubt would have followed it with "dearie me", if he had been able to finish the sentence. As it was, he was thrown quite bodily down upon the still-mussed green and beige bedsheets, with Holly somehow ending up on top of him. Wide blue and hazel eyes stared into sultry mirrors of themselves. Both were silent for a moment.

"I want to show you something." Holly said, and then amber sparks started jumping around and off her skin, until she was glowing.

This is new, Artemis thought.

When Artemis and Holly – In her human form – arrived at the shooting range, which Constantine had rented out for another day, they had bagels and cream cheese for everyone. Unfortunately, "everyone" weren't really paying attention to them, as Butler and Constantine were fighting, full-tilt, in the same space Constantine had worked with Artemis the night before.

Juliet was crammed into a corner with the same table Butler and Constantine had been sitting at before, watching the scene before her, mouth agape. She had seen Butler go all-out once before, and that was up against Madam Ko. That match had ended in a draw, but her big brother seemed to have gotten even better since then, if it was possible, and Constantine was holding his own against him. Artemis and Holly both sat down next to Juliet without saying a word, Holly hadn't even let go of the bag of bagels yet. They both watched the fight intensely, Artemis steepled his fingers and tried to read the moves, to see ahead, the same way he would while watching a speed chess match.

Butler was wearing his specially-tailored suit (tailored so he could have a full range of motion, beat the crap out of you and still look professional while doing it), and having the size advantage, but by such a mass that he had an agility _disadvantage, _hestayed in one spot for the most part, pivoting on his back foot to defend and counter from a solid base. Occasionally he would move, to kick or attempt a takedown, and when he did it was with such a tenacity and speed that the two of them appeared a tangle of flailing limbs and crushing blows till one of them, usually Constantine, got thrown back. Speaking of Constantine, he was just as enthralling to watch as Butler: flying around like one of those ridiculous characters in manga, he was taking advantage of his prodigious endurance and considerable acrobatic skill to try to find an opening in Butler's armor. He would jump off a wall, bench, gun stand, anything to try to get withing striking range of the giant.

Constantine tried to backflip is way under Butler's guard and land a kick to the big man's chin, but Butler was too quick, catching the kick in his palm, and thrusting outward, sending Constantine's body flying towards a near wall. Everyone watching winced waiting for the impact, except Artemis, who noticed the slight shift in Constantine's center of gravity. At the last minute, Constantine twisted his body, and landed feet first against the wall. If someone had a camera, and took a picture at the precise moment, it would look like he was standing sideways, for he next launched himself at Butler, who batted the missile-like figure to the side. Constantine, however, grabbed one of Butler's forearms, and managed to engage the man in a Wing-Chung Kung Fu battle. To close for kicks now, each of their arms was flying, trying to trap and punch the other. Artemis watched closely, and read ahead, he saw each and every punch as if it were in slow motion now, he saw the trap by Constantine, he saw the spinning back-fist, he saw Butler being knocked out by a hard right...

But that didn't happen, both Constantine and Artemis underestimated how quick Butler really was, and he surprised them both by catching Constantine's arm. With a firm grip, he spun once, twirling Constantine like a rag-doll, and tossed him to the far end of the room, right towards the group watching, But this time, there was no shift of Constantine's body, he hit the ground. Hard. He tumbled thrice and came to a stop on his back, looking at Artemis through his legs in a way that would look comical if it didn't look like it hurt so much.

"Well," He groaned. "that's new." He coiled up from that position, putting his hands on either side of his head, palms on the ground, and jumped to his feet. He looked at Butler, who took a defensive stance, and raised his hand in defeat. "You win, big man. I'm done." A sheepish smile played across Constantine's face, and Butler stood up straight, answering with a curt bow. Constantine bowed his head and walked towards Butler, they both shook hands, and broke apart.

Juliet and Holly started clapping with astonished expression, even Artemis was clapping lightly, looking amused.

"Well done!" he congratulated. He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by a cry from Juliet, who jumped up and hung from Butler's neck in an affectionate hug.

"Oh my god! That was amazing." She shrieked, but before a shocked Butler could return the gesture, she had already dropped down, grabbing Constantine and kissing him on the cheek. "You too, I've never seen anyone go toe to toe with my big brother like that." She bounced away and out the door to the entrance section of the shooting range, leaving a stunned group of people, and a particularly red Constantine, who was wide-eyed and holding his cheek. He turned his attention to Artemis and Holly.

"You two are up late." He pointed out with a grin.

"Yes, well you know how women are with their hair." Artemis replied cooly with an equally devious smile.

"Yes well my hair wouldn't have taken so long if YOU -" Holly stopped and quickly turned a bright shade of pink, which was quite impressive for an elf-turned-human with chestnut colored skin.

"What was that, my dear?" Artemis asked, his grin becoming more and more vampire-like, Holly just thought he looked like the devil.

"Nothing." She mumbled.

"What? I did not quite catch that, my dear." Holly shot him a deadly stare, and Artemis, considering his..erm..precarious.. position with her, decided to back off. She glared at him for a moment more, then turned to Butler and Constantine.

"What started all that anyway?"

Constantine shrugged. "We got bored waiting for you, so we decided to spar."

"That was sparring?"

Butler shrugged this time. "Of a sort. I guess we may have gotten into it a bit."

"No matter," Constantine cut in. "We should start planning out a route of entry into the compound."

"Actually, Ive been thinking about that." Everyone looked at him. Holly looked particularly surprised.

"When did you find the time to do that?" Artemis gave her his vampire smile.

"A good magician never reveals his tricks, Holly, but I do have a plan."

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	29. Prelude

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 29

Constantine adjusted a knob on the top of his scope, and his sights focused with a series of satisfying _clicks_. He was lying on top of his car again,peeking out above the same snowdrift, holding the same gun, as two nights ago. Artemis was sitting next to him, decked out in all white snow gear, typing furiously on a small laptop, trying to gain remote access into the security system to activate stage one of their plan. A frigid wind blew past the pair, and Artemis shivered despite his balaclava, and he breathed on his fingers, exposed so he could type, to keep them warm. He stole that brief moment from his work to glance at Constantine, was staring intently through the night-vision scope, and his thought drifted to a conversation they had earlier...

_Several Hours Previous_

After explaining the plan to everyone, Artemis watched Butler, Juliet, and Holly leave the room, each to go through their tasks. Constantine stayed behind though, and retreated to a small, white chair. Artemis noticed stress lines in his face, which appeared taut, and strained. His curiosity was aroused when Constantine let out a short, quick sigh and ran his hand over his face, as if he were trying to rub out sand from his eyes.

Artemis knew quite a bit about psychology, and enough about actual emotions to know something was wrong, it also helped that he wasn't a blithering idiot. Constantine, however, didn't seem to notice Artemis: He had taken out his revolver and started meticulously cleaning it, but Artemis noticed his eyes slightly glazed over. He was simply going through the motions, while his head was somewhere else completely.

Artemis, while at the forefront of modern psychology, had little actual experience with empathy; he was still trying to figure out his own feelings, so it was difficult for him to understand other people's. So being with Constantine like this made him slightly uncomfortable, though he would never show it.

"Constantine?" He started.

"Hmm?" Constantine tried to smile at him, which threw Artemis off, but he hesitated for only a second.

"What does that inscription mean, on your weapon?"

Constantine looked down at his revolver wistfully, the words _Jesus Christ is in Heaven Now _winked back at him from the silver metal. "It was part of our order." He said. "We were religiously inclined, at our formation_, _towards Christianity. We used to be told that we were 'wiping out the demons of the world'." The tautness reappeared in Constantine's face, as the smile left it, for once taking the ghost of laughter from his eyes as well. "It was all base justification for the evil we committed. Justification for..." He looked away from Artemis. "..Murder, among other things. That's why they called us Angels. They made us think we were special, like we were the protectors of the humans, or some such similar nonsense." He stared at the ground, then muttered, "Quis custodies ipsos custodes?" Artemis studied Constantine, who fell silent, for a moment. There was something in his eyes, something that, despite his youth, betrayed his age.

"You look tired, Constantine."

"I am tired, Artemis." He gave up polishing the barrel of his gun. "Yesterday was my hundred and eleventieth birthday." Constantine smiled again.

"Happy birthday, then." Artemis attempted to return the smile, but he suspected it looked forced. Constantine laughed; a harsh, cynical sound, uncharacteristic of the man Artemis knew, or thought he knew.

"Thanks." Silence fell between them for a moment. "You know when I met my wife, she didn't know I was a hundred and two, hell I didn't know I was a hundred and two." Artemis didn't respond, so Constantine continued. "I find myself at a crossroads now, a fork in the road, if you will. For the last ten years, I did not know who I was, but – because of my wife and daughter, mostly – I actually _liked _who I was becoming." He looked at Artemis, who saw the desperation in his eyes. He went back to polishing the barrel of his gun, as he continued to speak, with a fervor as if to wipe away some unseen stain. "Now I know who I am, and the person I had become hates the person I was. Hell, the person I was wasn't that fond of me either. Everything she stood for, everything she hated, feared, and pitied about the world is embodied in that person." He threw the gun on the ground in exasperation and disgust, and it clattered away with the scraping sound of metal on concrete. He sat there, slouched and leaning back in his chair, his arms loose at his side and his eyes staring at the pistol as if his very stare could make it disappear. "And that person stood next to her, and tainted her innocence with the smell of gunpowder and blood and had the gall to call her his own, and she loved him only because she didn't know." He paused. "So now, I don't know where to go from here. I don't know what to do."

A silence fell between them, and Artemis walked slowly over to Constantine, who wasn't looking at him. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, and then put a hand on the man's shoulder. Then Constantine looked at him. "Who we were," Artemis said, speaking clearly and slowly. "Is a part of who we are, there is no denying that, but it does not define us. Presently, only you can decide who you are, and who you will be; and that can only be defined by your actions – now, and from now on." He tried to remember one of the sappy saying his father spouted in some of his more lighthearted moments: "Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life." Sappy did not necessarily mean insubstantial.

Constantine thought for a moment, reflecting on what Artemis had told him. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?" Artemis nodded.

"You said it yourself, she loves you, that means she has already forgiven who you were, and is relatively unconcerned with it." Artemis then crouched down, so that he was level with Constantine sitting in the chair. "But I do think, if you were to revert back to whatever monster you think yourself before she met you, well I don't think she will forgive you for that."

Constantine nodded slowly. "And how to I forgive myself?"

Artemis shrugged. "I have been wondering that for about five years now."

Constantine looked back at Artemis, light blue eyes meeting piercing blue and warm hazel. He put his hand on Artemis', which was still on his shoulder, and smiled, a certain light returning to his eyes. "Thank you, Artemis." Artemis smiled back at him, sincerely.

"Do not mention it." He stood up, brushing some non-existent dust off of his pant-leg. "Except for the exorbitant consultant's fee for helping you regain your memories. Please, mention that some time in the near future.

Constantine laughed heartily at this.

Now it was night, and Artemis was again typing away at his "customized" laptop.

"Are you ready?" Asked Constantine, his break forming crystals, which formed a fog in the cold night.

"Almost – Yes." Artemis responded, as he gained access into the security system of the building. "You can now 'Lock and Load' as I believe you military types put it."

"Good." Constantine fell silent, taking a deep breath, then another, then another. Artemis's finger hovered over the "Enter" button on the keyboard. Constantine let out his last breath, and then held it.

A silencer suppressed most of the gunshot, but not much can suppress the blast from a fifty-caliber explosive round, or the klaxon alarm that issued after it like a bomb threat.

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	30. Charge of the Light Brigade

**I do not own Artemis Fowl **

Chapter 30.

As soon as the alarms sounded, and an artificial voice (directed by Artemis) directed all security personnel to the rear of the compound to deal with a security breach, Artemis and Constantine quickly jumped from their perches on top of the car – well, for Artemis it was more of a stumble, but he was quick enough to his feet to move to his position in the drivers seat – and the pair of them drove off in silence. Constantine hung out of the window of the car, trying his best to steady the small cannon against the squelching and lurching of the wheels against the snow, while Artemis (who, contrary to popular belief, was an excellent driver. Honestly, why are people so surprised at that? It is not exactly rocket science, and even if it was, I am quite proficient at that anyway.) tried to drive as steady and as fast has he could to the bridge across the ice and snow. He gave the gorge itself a wide berth.

Constantine peered through the lurching and lunging scope, careful to keep steady control on his breathing. He had done this before, and the trick was all in the timing. He was trying to keep a lookout for any lazy security guards that decided not to heed the call, and might be rewarded for their ineptitude with the visualization of the real threat. There was only one that he noticed, a particularly plump, though stalwart-looking man who looked thoroughly surprised to see a white sedan careening towards them through the night. Constantine and Artemis were quite close at this point, and before the guard could fire, Constantine had let fly three hollow-point shells towards the ground at his feet. He didn't want to kill anyone, and it was almost impossible to do anything else with a fifty-cal, but, if fifty-caliber hollow-points were to hit the ground and ice within a certain angle range, then they would send up a spray of debris at the target. This is exactly what happened, and the guard was so disoriented that he splayed out his right arm, the one holding the automatic rifle – which Constantine could now tell was an AK-47 – which presented another perfect target for Constantine, who fired, destroying the weapon. The guard, who at this point had already peed himself, floundered about to hide behind his booth. He would later half to go to therapy to deal with the "sniper from hell who came to claim his soul for the devil.", and even later than that, become a reformed catholic priest, who gave sermons in jails for prisoners to repent their evil ways.

As Artemis neared the bridge, Constantine wormed the upper half of his body back into the car and buckled up. He didn't say a word to Artemis, who was concentrating and calculating several different angles inside his head at the moment to time the turn just right. About a hundred yards out from the bridge, Artemis jammed the brakes and slammed the wheel to the right, then to the left, sending the car into a controlled skid. It slid along the ice the remainder of the way, and by the time it reached the asphalt, Artemis was accelerating. The car lurched forward as the grip of the wheel's forward motion outdid the lateral momentum the car had acquired and the nondescript sedan started to accelerate towards the compound, and more specifically, the glass door and lobby within. Constantine braced himself, this was going to hurt.

It did.

The car with the two men inside hurtled through the glass with a crash, and a hiss as some stray shards popped two of the back tires, but that wasn't really important anymore, as it promptly crashed into the lobby reception desk. The vehicle was moving at such a speed that it's back tires actually left the ground for a moment, before it slammed back into the tiled floor, it's suspension moaning, but none of this mattered to the passenger and driver; the car itself was designed for russian spies, and while slightly and older model, it had the highest of crash-test ratings – far higher than common car companies feel like investing in.

Still, both Artemis and Constantine stumbled from the car, faces red from the airbags but were soon quickly about their business.

"That was quite an impressive bit of driving back there." Constantine commented casually as he stripped away his parka, balaclava, and snow pants, leaving on black cargo's, a tight black tee-shirt, and ammunition belt with his holster and revolver around his waist. He quickly wrenched the back door open, grabbing his long, black coat off the car floor and threw it on.

"Thank you, people are always so amazed to learn that I can drive." Artemis had similarly taken off his parka, revealing a bulletproof vest and shoulder holster, with the gun that he had become so familiar with the day before, that Butler had insisted he wear, but left his snow pants on. Constantine tossed the laptop, which had been thrown around in the back seat, to Artemis, and the two took off down a corridor on their right, Constantine with his gun drawn.

They knew the way, and they knew what to do. The klaxon alarm had been shut off, and so had Artemis's security message. The news that someone crash-tested their front door, though, had apparently not been sent out yet, as they so no one around. They were not expecting such luck, though, in the foundry, but they were pleasantly surprised when Constantine busted down the door to it, and saw no one. They were on top of a large, grated-metal set of stairs, and they slowly made their way down it, an acrid sulfur smell burning their noses, and the intense heat of molten metal making them sweat.

The echo of their footsteps on metal turned to an echo of footsteps on concrete as they reached the main floor. It was the only sound in the room.

"Constantine," Artemis muttered, and Constantine took a moment to glance back at him, and see his face lit up in the red glow of steel. "Something isn't right, there should at least be _workers _here."

Constantine nodded, but said anyway: "Maybe they evacuated, out of a safety concern."

"Kravchenko does not exactly strike me as the time of man who would be concerned with his workers' safety." Constantine couldn't help but agree.

They had both stopped walking forward, and faced the long room. On either side of them were huge monolithic cauldrons containing molten irons, and small pools and rivers of the steel traced the room and lead to various smelting chambers. On the other side of the room both could see a large, complicated looking control panel curving against one side of the room, and another single door, which they knew would lead them to a lounge room, where another door would lead them to a secretary's office, and then they would be only one door away from their objective: Kravchenko's office.

Artemis looked at Constantine, who nodded. "Go."

Artemis took off running, laptop under arm, gun raised, and Constantine following closely behind. With the smoothness of a dwarf lockpick, Constantine holstered his gun, pulled out two grenades from pockets on either side of his coat, pulled the pins with his thumbs, and tossed them underneath two large cauldrons, one filled with melted ore, the other with water. As the small, but effective explosions rippled across Constantine's back and knocked over both cauldron's, he couldn't help but think that if it were a movie, this scene would be in slow motion, and _In the Hall of the Mountain King _by Edvard Grieg would be playing in the background.

Artemis, taking the lead, fired the entire clip into the control panel, then took his laptop to the code-key locked door. The omni-sensor on the back of the laptop played over the keypad, looking for the code. From behind him he heard Constantine fire, and guessed that he had missed his shots, but then he heard Constantine fire again, and again, followed by a round of automatic fire, which was soon silenced by another of Constantine's shots, and guessed that the rest of the security force had showed up. _About time, too. _He thought, as his laptop showed him the key _this was beginning to get too easy. _Punched in the key and opened the door, and walked straight into a room full of angry men carrying automatic weapons and pointing them at his face. _And now it's about to get very very hard. _

Constantine backed into Artemis and pulled the door shut behind him. When he spun around, and saw the situation, he froze. "Crap." Artemis nodded in agreement.

"Put your weapons down on the ground, carefully." One of the men, a particularly burly one who reminded Artemis of a miniature Butler, said in Russian. Both Constantine and Artemis set gingerly set their pistols on the ground, and Artemis placed his laptop down as well. He glanced at Constantine, who was looking severely annoyed, despite having his hands in the air.

"Well done, gentleman." Kravchenko walked out from behind the door Artemis and Constantine had intended to go through, clapping his hands haughtily. Despite this, Artemis noticed he stayed well behind his men, instead of joining them in the semi-circle, Artemis had to suppress a smile at this. "A valiant effort, though predictable." He relished the word predictable.

"Well well, Vladmir, I didn't think you'd actually show your face."

Kravchenko stiffened noticeably at the malice in Constantine's voice, but then relaxed, and looked at the man. "I don't remember giving you permission to call my by my first name."

"Yeah, well I just figure I'm on first name basis with anyone who has tried to kill me."

Kravchenko didn't respond to Constantine's baiting, instead he gestured to one of his soldiers, who struck Constantine on the back of the neck with the butt of his gun. Constantine fell into a slump. Kravchenko then turned to Artemis. "And you, Master Fowl," Artemis flashed annoyance at the title. "I didn't think you one for these bold charges, where is your manservant, Butler?"

Artemis eyed Constantine on the floor. "It's "mister", actually, and he wouldn't fit in the car." Artemis flashed Kravchenko his vampire's grin. "But he is coming, Mr. Kravchenko, mark my-"

Artemis never got to finish his threat, for Kravchenko had grown bored, gave the signal, and Artemis was then struck on the back of the neck. The last thing he heard before everything went black was the soldier's voice: "Do Svidaniya, comrade."

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	31. Infiltration

**I do not own Artemis Fowl **

Chapter 31

Despite what movies, books, and all manner of other things that require you to suspend disbelief will have you believe, when someone get's knocked out, they aren't unconscious for an indefinite period of time usually equating to a few hours, and if they are, then they are likely to never wake up. No, if a person is knocked out, they have about 3 – 5 minutes before they start to suffer from brain damage, anything past an hour, the likelihood of them waking up ever is almost a million to one. So both Artemis and Constantine were awake as they were being dragged away somewhere, awake, but groggy. With blurred vision Artemis knew he was being taken downstairs, he could also tell that the men carrying him were having significantly more trouble carrying Constantine's heavy ass than they were him. _Heavy ass? _He thought to himself. _I must have been hit harder than I thought. _Then: _I need to gain weight. _

After they were stripped of all hardware, which was thrown unceremoniously onto a table outside a jail-room. The pair of them were thrown into two separate cells, which were surprisingly well lit, small concrete cubes with iron bars for a door. There was no bed, no sink, no toilet, it was dank, damp and smelled of mold: obviously people weren't meant to be here long-term. Artemis sighed when the fog cleared from his head. So cliché.

Time dragged on, five minutes, then ten minutes, then twenty. Artemis heard Constantine trying to strike up conversation with their guards, the same burly one from earlier, Artemis noticed. However, like Butler, the guard was a professional, and would not respond to Constantine's baiting. So when attempts at polite conversation broke down, Constantine just resorted to insulting the guard's mother.

There were no window's in the cell, but Artemis surmised that about 40 minutes had passed when someone first came to see them. A tall, thin, lanky Russian, to whom Artemis took an immediate disliking. He was dressed like a working professional, white shirt, tie, black trousers, glasses, but he had a hooked nose and slicked-back, oily hair, and a cruel look in his eyes.

"Hello, Artemis Fowl." The man tried to give Artemis a kind smile, it did not suit him. "My name is -"

"Karl Dragovich." Artemis interrupted. "You were born in Moscow in 1985, and from there you managed to get into Cambridge University. Widely known as one of the best computer programmer's in the business, until you disappeared fifteen years ago, and until I was born."

The smile dropped a fraction of an inch on Dragovich's face. Artemis could hear Constantine in the next cell chuckling to himself. Dragovich spared a glance at Constantine, but then grabbed a chair from the outside, brought it into the cell, and sat on it, backwards. Artemis nearly rolled his eyes.

"Really, Mr. Dragovich, you are quite bad at this, aren't you? A well lit room? Non-violent guards? Shouldn't we be in a dark, underground chamber, with a single lamp swinging above me, possible torture before you even show up. A guard punching me with glass in my mouth? Cigarette burns? Something to loosen me up before you ask me questions?" Constantine was laughing loudly at this point.

Dragovich, dropped all pretense, and his smile turned into an evil grin. "No Fowl, to harm you would be folly, as dear Vladmir doesn't want to bring the wrath of Artemis Fowl senior down upon him. While your family may have gone straight, their power was renowned, and the death of their heir would no doubt return them to their ways."

Artemis nodded. "You're smarter than you look, not that that should be too hard." Despite the jest, he reprimanded himself. _I've been hanging around Holly too long. _

Dragovich, however, seemed to ignore the jest. "Where's Butler?"

"He couldn't fit in the car." Dragovich raised an eyebrow. "All right, all right, we had a falling out over my latest endeavor." Dragovich appeared appeased by this explanation.

"Where are the fairies?"

Artemis looked at him the same way so many therapists have peered at him. "Are the fairies the voices inside your head?"

"You may have your little joke, Master Fowl," Dragovich said, his smile not dipping at all. "But I will be laughing in the end." Again, Artemis had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Before he could, though, Dragovich was up and leaving, slamming open the wrought-iron door and walking away at a considerably more brisk pace than he came. After the guard had closed the gate, Artemis walked up to it, resting his head between the bars.

"We might just have to kill that one." Constantine joked.

Artemis sighed. "Richard of York gave battle in vain."

The guard, who (to his credit) had ignored Constantine's mouthing off for the past hour or so, was thoroughly shocked by this latest bit of gibberish. "What?" he asked.

"It's a memory game," Artemis explained. "The colors of the rainbow."

As soon as the word "rainbow" left his lips, the man disappeared into thin air. Artemis waited a moment, and the man appeared again, and slumped to the floor.

"Well done, Butler, a bit theatrical, but well done none the less." Butler appeared out from under a sheet of cam foil and nodded sheepishly at his charge. Deftly, he ripped the iron bars of their hinges and out of the locks, the same way a small child might break a stick.

"Are you hurt, Artemis?" He asked, grabbing his charge and checking him for injury.

"Yes, old friend, I am absolutely fine."

"How'd you find the journey, big man?" Constantine asked, appearing besides Butler and windmilling one of his arms, as if to stretch out the shoulder.

"How'd you get out?" Butler started, then both he and Artemis moved to examine the other cell door, which had it's bars bent inwards. Constantine just shrugged.

"Do you think Holly succeeded?" Bulter asked Artemis, who was again strapping on the bulletproof vest and shoulder holster. Constantine was likewise "gearing up."

"Yes, Butler, I do." He clipped the holster together with a satisfying _click. _"I have the utmost faith in her, as I do in you, old friend."

Butler, in fact, had his own mission to fulfill beforehand. Namely, getting into the compound undetected. Artemis knew that there was no way to actually get everyone inside at once so they could sneak around, which was why – an hour earlier – Butler was standing outside in the freezing cold underneath the bridge like some sort of troll. When he heard the klaxon alarm ring out, he cast a grappling hook across the gorge to an outcropping of pipes and vents. He anchored one side of the rope to the bridge itself, and crawled across, hanging from the rope like a sloth.

_I'm getting old. _He thought to himself. _Old enough that I need my legs to do this. _When he reached the other side, he stood atop a particularly large pipe, about 8 feet in diameter, that was humming and warm. He set his hand on the pipe, and with his other hand, pulled a 16 inch Bowie knife out of the bottom of his pack. He heard Artemis and Constantine screech across the bridge, and heard them crash into the other side. He winced.

It was another five minutes before the humming stopped, Butler raised the knife, and slammed it into the side of the pipe as hard as he could. The part Butler stood at was a bend, and therefore one of the weaker points along its length, so it gave way to the steel of the blade fairly easily. He carved out a sizable hole and slipped in. It was filled about knee-deep with a slurry of coke and spent ore. He slapped on a pair of ski-goggles to protect his eyes from the fumes, held his breath, and trudged forward.

Butler can hold his breath for 8 minutes, six while jogging at a slow pace, he got to the target destination of 500 meters in in 3. He listened carefully, with his ear to the wall of the pipe, for any sounds of movement on the other side. Once he was sure it was silent, he rammed his knife up the top of the pipe, cut a hole, and was out just as smoothly as he had come in.

The technicians would never notice the lost pressure in the pipe until it was too late, that was the whole point of the first phase of the Plan: shock, awe, and distraction. With all the mayhem Constantine and Artemis caused in the foundry, no one would notice a couple of extra visitors; _especially, _Butler thought, as he took a large sheet of cam-foil, now required for every LEPrecon officer going topside after the Spiro incident, out of his pack, and wrapped himself in it, _if we are invisible. _

Invisible and silent now, Butler left the room he had come through, an underground boiler room, he judged, and continued into a hallway. He followed Artemis' instructions through the labyrinth-like passageways until he noticed a particularly busy-looking group of people: it was Artemis, Constantine, and their captors, the former two being taken to their cells. He followed behind them silently, at a distance, resisting the urge to lash out and defend his charge.

He followed them into a cell-block where they were disarmed and thrown into the jail cells. The hardest part was next for Butler: wait for the signal.

As they discussed this, the guard started to move again, Butler moved quickly, removing duct tape and plastic ties from his backpack, and tossed the duct tape to Constantine, who set to work gagging the guard. Butler, at the same time, tied the man's hand and feet, and they both tossed him unceremoniously, and squirming, into the farthest cell from the door.

Artemis checked his watch, which he retrieved from the fold-out table along with his gun and vest, an hour had passed. "Time to go." He said to the other two, and with visible confidence, they left the moldy room.

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	32. Turn a Blind Eye

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 32

Holly, an hour earlier, was in a completely different situation from Butler. She was hovering above the complex, shielded, and full to the brim with magic. In fact, she felt as if she was above her usual limit in magic. It was interesting, she thought, she didn't know it would do that to her, nor did she know it would heal Artemis so completely. Later, she would be asked if she felt ashamed for what she did, she would say no, to feel ashamed would be to bastardize something so completely pure.

She waited for what the cold made seem like an eternity. Even the heated coils in her shimmer suit couldn't keep the arctic wind off of her bones completely. She waited, and watched a black smog belch out of the the giant smoke-stacks, and a century-old hate for the mud men started to rekindle; their destruction of the environment which they have been blessed with, and their destruction of themselves was so senseless. The only thing that kept her from leaving right there was the thought of Artemis. _They're not all like that, _She thought. _And they are trying to change. They can change. _

She watched the white sedan speed across the ice, somewhat amazed that Artemis could drive that well. She bit her bottom lip when the squealing tires came a little to close to the edge of the bridge, and she winced as she heard it crash into the reception desk. She waited for the smoke to stop bellowing out of the large chimney. When it did, she twisted the toggle on her controls, and started flying downward. As the vast tunnel swallowed her, she was grateful Constantine managed to take apart the mechanisms in the foundry, or this would be a lot shorter trip. She tried to think of it like a chute dive (which she still held the record for), it was all about timing.

As she felt the heat rise against her face, she started to see the "light at the end of the tunnel" so to speak. She set her jaw, and readied her finger above the controls. It was kind of sad that Artemis' entire plan came down to her flying ability, but then again, there wasn't much the great Artemis Fowl could do without her. She would be sure to goad him about that later. She pulled back on the toggle hard. Perfect timing. She zoomed out of the smokestack, barely scorching her eyebrows, and zooming out into the foundry.

The scene she came upon was complete pandemonium. Two cauldron's had fallen over, one filled with coolant, the other with molten ore, their contents forming a mountain of smoking stone on the floor. A control panel was likewise smoking and sparking, and on one side of the foundry was a security team, shooting at and being shot by Constantine, who was slowly backing out of the far door. Before he turned he looked up at her and winked, then disappeared. How he always seemed to know exactly where she was, even when shielded, she would never figure out. It was scary. Butler scary.

She flew towards the security team; more specifically, towards the door they had come from. They were tending to the wounded, and wouldn't notice the door open and close a crack, and they didn't. She laid out a path on the mini-map in her wrist-computer, compiled out of digital maps Artemis had gotten from...somewhere, and the video feed from their initial foray into the compound. She alighted onto the tiled floor, still shielded, and her wings zipped back into their casing, almost becoming a type of backpack.

Holly moved quickly and quietly along the hallways, dodging bustling and busy technicians as well as armed guards, until she found herself back in the room overlooking the foundry that Artemis had been in. There was a door on the other side that should lead to the security room, but she couldn't open it, and that was the crux of the entire operation. On the other side of that door people, possibly Kravchenko, were on high alert, and would notice the door opening and closing for no apparent reason, and Kravchenko knew about the fairies, and would likely be able to put two and two together. She had to wait for someone to come or go.

Luckily, she didn't have to wait long, a tweedy, greasy looking man with a white shirt and glasses stormed out, slamming the door open, and presenting Holly with the perfect opportunity to steal inside.

Once she was in, she noticed that there was no one else in the room. This was good, it meant she didn't have to spend time mesmering anyone. She performed a quick scan for camera's, and, finding none, she unshielded. She went to quick work with her omni-tool, disassembling the paneling underneath a massive control panel, which took up the entire bottom half of one wall (the screens showing different parts of the building took up the other side.). She took one of Foaly's fiber-optic cables out of a pack she brought with her, and wrapped it around a set of wires at random. Artemis managed to reconfigure the cable to his laptop, a laptop she happened to have with her.

With the practiced efficiency of a carpenter she reassembled the panelling, leaving no trace that she had ever been there. She then took the laptop out of her pack, set it on the control board, and turned it on. Artemis had designed the program to basically run itself on a ten-second loop. She picked ten seconds when the various halls and rooms were empty, and pressed the button. She stuffed the laptop away, and left the room. She made her way down to the lower levels, not even bothering to shield unless she ran into someone. What did it matter now? The loop she ran rendered all security camera's useless.

She made it downstairs without a hitch, and was sneaking down a hallway when a door on her right opened, and Artemis Fowl, Constantine, and Butler all walked out.

"You have impeccable timing, Mr. Fowl." She commented.

"Timing is everything Ms. Short." Artemis riposted, with a sly smile.

"As touching as this is," Constantine interjected. "Can you two please flirt elswhere? We do have a job to do." Butler nodded in agreement. He was happy for his charge, but this was neither the time, or the place.

"Of course." Artemis said, in a business-like tone. Holly was less effective at hiding her embarrassment.

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	33. Answers Don't always Satisfy

**I do not own Artemis Fowl. **

Chapter 33

Holly, Artemis, Constantine, and Butler strode down the various hallways, careful to avoid any unnecessary detection. This was a part of the complex that Artemis could not find detailed plans for, but still, taking note of the contents of various rooms and the tendency for heightened security in different places, he was able to lead them to the general are of their destination: Kravchenko's home within the complex.

Kravchenko, amongst his other faults, was a workaholic. For this, Artemis held nothing against him, for he himself was known to spend several days on a project with little to no sleep, thinking of nothing else; translating the Book, for example. However, he personally thought that having an apartment underneath what was essentially a giant lava bowl was a bit much. However, it did provide them easy access to their adversary, and an easy way to keep Kravchenko off guard.

The hallways were not like the one's above, Holly noticed as she examined her surroundings. While the main building was filled with white tiling, white walls, and bright fluorescent lights – very cookie-cutter office building – these ones were altogether more ominous: the only lighting came from hanging lamps, and the walls were a mud-brown, as if somebody had simply carved the tunnels out of the ground and left it like that. In a way, it felt somewhat familiar to Holly, being underground, surrounded by the warm energy of the earth. In another way, it gave her a sharp sense of foreboding, like it all bore an uncanny resemblance to something she had seen before.

"Artemis." Constantine spoke quietly, as to not be heard by any roaming guards. "Are you aware with Freud's theory on the Uncanny?"

"To an extent, yes." Artemis replied, equally cautious. "Freud postulated that we are frightened by things that are familiar to us when we see them in an illogical way, because it defies reason and implies superstition and foreboding: If you were riding a train and were in car number nine, then from the train station took taxi number 9 to a motel, where you stayed in room nine, it would frighten us on a subconscious level, because the number 9 is no longer associated with the logical random. It's also the reason why movies like "Chucky" frighten us. Why?"

"Because I am getting a very odd feeling of uncanny at the moment." Holly silently agreed with him, but said nothing aloud.

"Perhaps not all of your memory has returned." Artemis whispered. "It was quite a bit of information you had to take in at once, and it is possible that there are still gaps in your memory."

Constantine was about to respond, but Butler, who was in the lead of the group, held up a massive hand to silence him and pressed himself up against the wall to their right. The rest followed suit. Butler slid forward inch by inch until he came to a corner, where the hallway seemed to end and open up into a large room. His nostrils were flaring and contracting, like a bloodhound on the scent of a fox.

Butler looked back and mouthed "guard", while holding up one finger. One guard. Constantine nodded in agreement, and then looked at Holly, who was already removing her neutrino from her holster. She set it to a level one setting, stun, essentially, and moved into the room. The dark walls lit up red for a moment, and, after a sound that can only be described as "pew", there was the sound of someone crumpling to the floor. Butler, constantine, and Artemis followed her in. Holly was already binding and gagging the guard, with a frightening look of satisfaction on her face. Constantine and Artemis watched the scene for a moment, when Constantine patted Artemis on the back.

"She's your girlfriend." He was almost giggling. Artemis shot him a glare, then moved to the one door in the room. It was made out of solid metal, and had a similar number pad as the one in the foundry did.

He took out his Laptop again, (pity the guards hadn't thought to take it away from the room they were in, that would have mad this challenging at least.) and ran the omni-sensor across the pad. After a minute of calculations, his screen flashed green, giving him the code, which he entered into the pad. It flashed green and opened, revealing a very startled Kravchenko.

"Fowl!" he raged, his english becoming broken in his fright. "Vat are you doing here?"

"That's quite enough, Mr. Kravchenko." Butler responded in Russian. "The game's over, don't try to run." Of course, Kravchenko did try to run. They always try to run, but they were in an underground apartment, where was he going to run too?

Butler and Constantine followed after him without really bothering to catch up. He lead them to his room, where apparently he had a gun.

This may have been a problem for anyone else but the two well-trained, well-armed individuals. Butler however, had to resist rolling his eyes at the shaking, pathetic man, and Constantine walked up to him as one would walk up to a misbehaving kindergartener, and snatched the gun out of his hands with a quick movement of his arm. Kravchenko, in a commendable show of bravery, promptly peed himself and fainted. Constantine looked at the man in disgust.

"This is the same man that blew me out of a gondola, erased my memories, and gave me the best 10 years of my life."

Butler was surprised at the personal statement from Constantine, who turned and walked away from the slumped figure of Kravchenko, lying in the dark between his bed and the wall. Butler put a large hand on Constantine's shoulder, who, surprisingly, did not flinch from the weight.

"It will all be over soon." Constantine nodded and left the room, leaving Butler to deal with the pathetic man.

By the time Butler had carried Kravchenko out of his room, Artemis and Holly had already set up the block-wipe equipment. It was compact, and efficient for their purposes. Butler dropped the man unceremoniously into one of the chairs, and Holly started applying the nodes. Constantine slumped down on one of the couches in the living room, which was connected to the dining room, where they were, and looked like he wanted to be left alone. Artemis really was not needed for this, so he headed towards the hallway in the apartment that lead to the door.

"I'm going to call Juliet." He told Holly and Butler. Juliet had been waiting in a helicopter to extract the group (much to her chagrin.) so she was waiting for his call to pick them up. He took out his phone and started dialing her number, when he got out into the hall they had come from. Dragovich was there. He was holding a very large gun.

"Put the phone away, Mr. Artemis, and the gun." Artemis slowly closed the phone and set it on the cold ground. He carefully removed the gun from his holster with two fingers and set it next to the phone. "Very good, now if you would be so kind, please go to the corner and untie my guard."

"What's the point of this?" Artemis asked, ignoring his order from the man. "Your boss is inside, drooling, why don't you just cut your losses and go home?"

"My boss? You still don't get it do you?" It dawned on Artemis.

"Your the brains behind this, finding the fairies ten years ago, working to exploit them, the revenge against Constantine, you planned it all out."

"Yes, I even ordered that hit squad to come to your house. Kravchenko was just the money behind it, I could care less about him. Now, The guard. Please."

Artemis moved slowly over to the squirming man, weighing his options. Holly and Butler probably wouldn't notice anything, they thought he was on the phone, so him talking wouldn't alert them. If he shouted, he would be shot. If he let the guard go, he would probably be shot anyway, and he would put Holly, Butler, and Constantine in danger. He noticed the guard still had his sidearm, and a plan formulated in his head.

He kneeled down on the other side of the guard and glanced at Dragovich and planned everything in his minds eye: First, unsnap the pistol from the holster. Plan for estimated 1.1 reaction time from Dragovich. Pistol is aimed at temple. Duck. Remove guards fun from holster. Raise pistol one foot. At 15 feet, barrel needs to be elevated 20 degrees from floor, 42 degrees from east wall. Point of contact: right shoulder.

It went off without a hitch. Artemis ducked as the bullet sunk into the wall behind him. When he fired the recoil hurt like hell, but judging from Dragovich dropping the gun, and flying backwards, it hurt him more.

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	34. Uncanny

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 34

Artemis stood up calmly, brushing dirt off of his pants. He walked over to Dragovich, who had, miraculously, managed to stand to his knees. Artemis had tunnel vision, everything outside of his focus on this man was a blur, and everything on the man stood out in sharp relief. The blood blossoming across his shirt was not just red, it was neon. It glowed so bright it nearly hurt. Artemis could see every stray fiber on his shirt, every piece of dust on his trousers, and every bead of sweat mixing with tears. This super-sensory awareness extended to Artemis himself. He could feel the material of his pants rubbing against his legs as he walked, his black shirt stretching taut against his skin, and the grooves in the handle of the gun digging into his palm. It was like walking in a dream.

He reached Dragovich, who was making a vain attempt to crawl towards his dropped revolver. Artemis stopped him by putting the gun against his forehead. Artemis did not say anything, he did not trust himself too, but Dragovich did.

"P-please, don't shoot me." His voice was broken with sobs, Artemis noticed. He still didn't respond, but set his feet shoulder width apart, in line with his target, the way Constantine and Butler had taught him. "P-please." Dragovich tried again, but Artemis didn't even hear him this time. He had a very different voice ringing in his head.

"_Do you have the guts to put a gun to someone's head and pull the trigger?" _Jon Spiro's Chicago drawl pulsed across his eardrums. Artemis felt a sensation similar to someone walking over his grave, but suppressed the shiver. Did he? Didn't he? He wrestled with the question in his head. _This man tried to have us all killed. _He rationalized with himself. _He deserves to die. _He re-gripped the pistol. Dragovich was outright sobbing at this point. There may have been another voice around him, somewhere off in the distance, but Artemis couldn't make it out. _But you are not him, would you sink to his level?_ Said another voice – soft – but yearning to be heard.

"PLEASE!" Dragovich's voice broke as he shouted, but it managed to crack through Artemis' focus. He was suddenly aware of everything else around him, the earthy, dank smell of the tunnels, the wetness of the air, and the people to his left, shouting. He looked over, and saw Butler, Constantine, and Holly standing just outside the door to the apartment. Constantine and Butler looked somber, and Holly looked desperate. Constantine had his arm around her waist, and she was struggling against him.

It dawned on Artemis, she was trying to stop him, and Constantine was holding her back. Artemis silently thanked him for it, this was a decision he had to make on his own. He re-gripped the forty-five again, and, with a flick of his wrist, pistol whipped the weeping Dragovich, who fell silent to the floor. He turned away from the slumped man, flicked the safety on the pistol on with his thumb, and tossed it in the corner, where it clattered and then fell silent.

Holly broke free from Constantine's grip, or rather, Constantine let her go, and she turned around and slapped him, hard. He rolled his head away from the blow, but other than that, did not react, he head remaining sideways, but his eyes still fixed on Holly.

"Holly!" Artemis exclaimed, aghast. Holly ignored him.

"I could have just mesmerised him, but you stopped me! Why?" She sounded furious.

Constantine spoke softly and slowly. Not as someone would a petulant child, no. It sounded like someone trying to explain a very difficult decision, one they didn't want to make, but knew had to be made. "He had to make the choice for himself, or else it wouldn't have mattered at all."

"You would have stood there while he killed someone in cold blood?" Artemis was slightly affronted by this, but said nothing. Holly was still raging at Constantine, whose head had dropped and turned slightly, so that he was no longer looking at her. He closed is eyes, and seemed very much like a man trying to maintain control.

"I – I did not think he would do that." Artemis noticed a tear roll quietly down Constantine's cheek. As did Holly, who fell silent after that, and walked over to Artemis.

Butler eyed the man to his right, and watched Constantine turn around and noiselessly move back into the apartment. Butler's mind reached back to before, when he had gone to pick up Constantine, and found him sobbing and drunk in his basement. Constantine had been muttering something about a "promise." A promise he had broken. It was killing. He had swore to his wife that he would never kill again. He broke that promise to protect Holly, and it nearly drove him mad. He was reacting the same way to the mere idea that Artemis would kill, but he wouldn't step in, because he knew how important it was for Artemis to make the decision by himself, and in spite, or perhaps because of, all of his troubles, everything he had gone through, he had become wise.

Holly was walking with Artemis back into the apartment. As he passed, Artemis asked Butler to call his sister. Butler nodded silently, and flipped his phone open to his ear.

"Yeah, big bro?" Juliet's voice crackled in his ear.

"It's over, time for pick-up."

"OK Dom, t-time is 5:00"

Butler rolled his eyes at the use of his real name, and checked his watch. Five-o clock gave them 15 minutes to get out, more than enough time.

Holly walked out carrying the block-wipe device under her arm. She set it down to the still-passed out Dragovich, and started attaching white, suction-cup nodes to his head.

"How much are you going to wipe out?" Butler asked despite himself. Holly was looking at the screen of the device, green readout scrolling up, like from the Matrix.

"As much as we need too." Holly said, not looking up from the screen. "All knowledge of the fairies need to be wiped out. We'll probably need to take everything from him; we did with Kravchenko."

"It seems cruel." Butler let slip. He mentally slapped himself for saying it, Holly obviously already felt bad about it.

"It is, but it is necessary." Despite saying this, she hesitated over the button that would erase all that Dragovich was. With a sigh she pressed it.

"Where are you going to drop him? Serengeti again?"

"No, Artemis said we should drop Kravchenko in the outback, near one of the old aborigine tribes. We'll probably drop this one somewhere similar." She gave "this one" a shot of blue sparks to heal his wounds, and the pain and anguish seeped from his face, to be replaced with an eerie calm.

Constantine came out of the apartment with Kravchenko drooped and drooling over his shoulders. "Butler, would you mind carrying Dragovich out?" He asked. Butler nodded and scooped up the sleeping man, throwing him unceremoniously over his shoulders.

Artemis followed Constantine out of the apartment, with his laptop under his arm "Time to go." he said, and took the lead back down the hallway.

Artemis lead the way down the hallway, following back the same way they came. From the holding cell he could find his way back up to the main part of the building, they just needed to get out of this maze of hallways. As they passed a hall that Artemis was sure they hadn't gone down, Holly and Constantine stopped, peering down the corridor oddly, as if it were familiar to them.

"What's wrong?"

"This is the way out." Constantine spoke up first.

"Yes," Holly agreed. "Something is telling me that this is the way we got out the last time we were here."

Artemis thought for a moment. "Alright, lead the way."

Constantine, still carrying Kravchenko, took off. He was running slightly faster than he should have been, as the rest of the group was having trouble keeping up with him, but something in the back of his head was telling him to run. Something in his gut was telling him that danger was near, and he had long before learned to trust his gut.

He was full out sprinting at this point, his legs on fire from carrying Kravchenko, but even with the added weight, he was still faster than the rest of the group. He knew the way instinctively: Left. Right. Straight. Another Right. Then another. He heard Holly called his name, and he skidded to a halt.

He was at the entrance of a large hall, its high roof supported by four stone columns. The whole place was carved out of dark stone, and on Constantine's right were huge iron double doors, that reached all the way to the ceiling, but Constantine ignored that. On the wall directly across from them, there was a small hollow, with steps leading up to a pair of double doors that were slanted so that the bottom was further away from him than the top.

Artemis, Holly, and Butler all caught up with him.

"What in Frond's name was that about?" Holly demanded.

Constantine gulped. "I don't know why, but I'm scared for some reason." He stepped forward from the entranceway, and set Kravchenko against one of the stone pillars. "Stay there." He told the group, and he stepped forward carefully.

He walked up the stairs in the alcove and grabbed the steel handles on the doors. They were cold to the touch. He yanked, and a snowbank fell on top of him.

The group rushed to of him, and into the cold air blowing in from the exit. Holly and Artemis grabbed one of Constantine's hands and pulled him out of the newly created snowdrift.

"I found the exit." He stated, wiping snow from his face. Holly rolled her eyes.

"That was a lot of drama for nothing." She said.

"I guess." He answered, shaking his arms and rolling his shoulders to try to get the snow off.

"I'll go set the flares for Juliet." Holly told the group.

"I'll go with you." Artemis piped up, and the pair left into the cold night. Constantine and Butler hung back with the two hostages.

"How'd you know there was an exit there?" Butler asked.

"Don't know." Constantine shrugged. "Must've used it to get out or in last time I was here." He eyed the large iron doors. Butler noticed.

"What's in there?" Butler asked, indicating the doors with a jerk of his head.

"I don't know." Constantine answered, not taking his eyes off the door. "But I intend to find out." He approached the door carefully, drawing his gun from its holster. He carefully placed his hand on the door, and pulled. It opened with a sick, creaking sound. Constantine put his head inside to peer in. Suddenly, he jerked his head out and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Butler watched Constantine place his back against the door, his eyes wide, his face white, and every muscle in his neck strained. Butler immediately drew his Sig Sauer.

"What's wrong?"

"I remember why it all went to hell last time." He said, trying to push his weight against the door to keep it shut."

"What is it?"

Constantine looked up at Butler. "They have a troll."

As soon as he said "troll", the door burst out from behind him, sending him flying between the pillars and against the other wall, under which he crumpled in a heap.

He didn't get up.

Butler turned back to the door from Constantine's limp body to see, standing in the doorway, a fully grown, very angry, bull troll.

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**Sorry it took so long to update, real busy with college. **


	35. Angel of God

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Chapter 35

Butler didn't hesitate, as soon has he saw the troll, he emptied his clip into its forehead. The troll reeled back, grasping at its face, which was now matted in blood. Butler dropped the empty clip to the floor, and reached for a new one. The troll glared at him, and launched its huge body, claws first, to disembowel him. Butler side-stepped and hid behind a pillar, reloading his Sig. The troll swung a huge fist at the pillar and smashed the 4-foot thick cement to smithereens.

Rubble rained down on Butler as he stepped out from under the ruined pillar. He aimed at what should be the monsters temple, and managed to land three shots before a flailing claw knocked the gun out of his hand, and left a deep gash on his right forearm.

Butler managed to draw his huge knife with his left hand, and twirled it in his fingers. The troll watched him warily, he had been hurt badly by the human. Plus, the light glinting off the blade was seductive, and the twirling was like the movement of a snake charmers flute. Butler watched the troll swaying, ready to pounce, its eyes fixed on the spinning blade. He caught the blade by the handle, and the troll lashed out with one of its arms.

Butler ducked the attack, and drove the blade upward, slicing across the beast's armpit. Butler dropped the blade and sliced across the creatures back, disconnecting several muscles. Butler spun to face the troll, his blade in front of him. The monster turned to face Butler as well, more wary than ever. It shifted it's center of gravity lower, bending it's knees and keeping its long arms and talons out in front of it. It lunged at him, he quickly stepped out of the way and cut across the creatures right bicep. Its arm was now useless, deadweight.

Deadweight, as it turns out, was more than enough, because the creature twisted, it's arm sweeping Butler off of his feet, his knife flying out of his hands, and into one of the pillars. He felt his back crack, and he landed on something hard, which was digging into his stomach. The troll walked up behind him, and flipped him over with his foot. It dug it's long talons into his abdomen, lifting him up by his ribcage. Butler was still alive, but only just. As the troll lifted him up to eye-level, The edges of Butler's vision were starting to go black, but he still looked at the troll; its dreadlocks in its face, matted with blood and spit; its tusks were glistening with a purple-colored poison; its eyes tiny, red, and stupid.

Butler re-gripped the object that had been digging into his side: it was Constantine's gun, thrown out of his hands by the troll. With one quick movement, Butler jammed the gun under the troll's chin, into the soft, fleshy part of the neck. "Look what I found."

As the trolls brain exploded inside its own skull, it slumped to the ground, and its talons slipped outside of Butler, who crumpled on top of it. He looked out between the beast's shaggy hairs, and coughed blood. _Sorry Artemis, I don't think I'm going to make it through this one. _He thought to himself, and everything went black.

Domovoi Butler was dead.

Constantine came too in a blur. His whole body was hurting, and he couldn't really remember why, in fact it felt like he had tangled with a troll or something. Wait. _Troll. _Everything came flooding back to Constantine, and he tried to get to his feet, but his whole body felt like it was weighed down with lead.

"Butler!"

Constantine was vaguely aware that it was Artemis calling out, but all he really got from it was that Butler was in trouble, probably still fighting the troll. He had to help the big man. He managed to support himself on his elbows, and looked up.

Everything was still blurry, but he could make out two figures, Artemis and Holly, running across to a heaping mass on the floor. As his vision cleared, the heaping mass was defined. It was two figures, lying on top of each other. Constantine's eyes widened as he realized what had happened.

"Butler!" He shouted, his own voice weak. His pain forgotten, he managed to stumble to his feet.

Artemis was kneeling in front of the two bodies, tears streaming freely down his face. He turned to Holly, whose face was also wet. "Can you heal him?"

Holly looked like she didn't want to give him the answer, but she did. "No."

"Why not?" Artemis demanded.

"Last time I healed him I nearly killed him doing it, it took from his life force to complete the healing. This time, if I took any more, it would kill him. His body cannot take another healing of that scale." Holly's voice was slow, measured, but cracking. Her eyes were welling up in tears again. She had grown to like the big man, throughout all their adventures. He was her friend, a protector, always looking down on her from above. More than that, she knew his relationship with Artemis, he was a father-figure to him for so long. Even when Artemis' father returned, Artemis always went to Butler for advice. He was Artemis' best friend, brother, confidant. She would be strong for Artemis, because Artemis would need someone to be strong for him now.

"No." Artemis whispered, turning back to Butler's body. "No. You can't die. You can't die on me now. We were supposed to go out in a blaze of glory, if we did go out, but it was always supposed to be both of us. You can't leave me behind now."

"He won't." Constantine's voice rang deep, and clear. Both Artemis and Holly turned to look at him. He had taken his coat and shirt off, and was walking towards the pair, his jaw set, his face somber, his eyes determined.

"What do you mean." Artemis asked.

"I am going to show you a part of me I never wanted to." He walked between the two, and bent down near Butler. With a grunt and a heave, he managed to lift Butler up into his arms. Artemis and Holly marveled at the super-human feat of strength, and then Holly noticed something: Constantine's skin had turned white. There were no imperfections, bar the scars carved into his body, but bruises and cuts he had gained recently were fading as if they were being healed by magic. The blood that was dripping off of Butler's torso was sliding off the skin without leaving any trace of it being there before.

He walked past them, and laid the body down onto the floor. He put his hand on Butler's chest, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. Something pulsed away from the floor where Butler's body lay, kicking up dirt and dust in an expanding circle. Neither Artemis nor Holly dared to make a sound, it was like a trance, like they were about to see something heavenly, and if they were to speak, it would all crumble about them.

Slowly Constantine began to change. Artemis noticed it start at his fingertips. They started to blacken and change. His hand started to turn a sooty color, and the darkness crawled up his arm, contrasting starkly with the pure white his skin had originally turned. When the blackness reached his shoulder, Constantine's fingertips changed again, white lines cracking on his skin, creating cubic, pixelated patterns. They jumped up his skin in bursts, criss-crossing, creating spider webbed patterns like a crack in a windshield.

The darkness that had originally grasped Constantine's arm stopped at his neck, with a few tendrils creeping across his chest, back, and onto his scalp, dipping in and out of his scars like a shadow. With a sick, wrenching noise, a bone jutted out of his back, stretching the skin out like a tent. Holly gasped, and Artemis grabbed her shoulder. Constantine's eyes were screwed up in concentration, as if he were holding back the great pain that must have been wracking his body. He never let out so much as a whimper, however.

The bone started to elongate, and the skin around it shrunk and stretched, fitting it like those shrink wrap toys you can buy on TV. It grew to a length of five feet, jutting out of Constantine's back, just under his right shoulder blade. It started to widen, and with a retch-inducing _schluck, _seemed to unfold, the skin breaking in half, then re-wrapping around itself. The skin was pure white as well, clearer and purer than any either Artemis or Holly had seen before, with a few black tendrils stretching along a nob at the base, and blood dripping profusely from where the skin and been torn. The blood started to solidify, and change its color as well. Almost as if the dark red could not hold back the sanctity of the white skin, the white itself started to drip down and envelope the blood, forming flat, dagger-like stalactites hanging from the long, thin bone.

The bone, which was now jointed and at least ten feet long, and still growing, wrapped itself around Constantine, stopping just in front of him, between his face and Butler's. Then, it whipped back around, and, in a flash of brilliant light, feathers appeared. A gust had blown up from the force of it, and stray feathers, pure as the wind-driven snow, spiraled around and away from Constantine, but neither Holly or Artemis were paying attention to that, they were more focused on the man in front of them, for he had grown a wing.

Constantine stayed there, kneeling on the ground in front of Butler's body, breathing heavily from exhaustion, with a wing, thirteen feet long and a virgin white, sprouting out of his back. Light seemed to emanate from him, giving a soft glow to the room. Artemis understood, at that moment, why a team of trained assassins were called "angels" for he had never seen anything so hallowed in his entire life.

Constantine bent his wing around again, the white feathers encapsulating Butler's upper body, and closed his eyes. Constantine's hair started to grow back at a startling rate, growing blonde and dropping in front of his eyes. The light that glowed around him started to fade, and his hair started turning black, changing at the roots, and then the dark color creeped up to the tips. The brightness of Constantine's skin dimmed, and the feathers on his wing started to droop.

Suddenly, Constantine's arm split open at the elbow, and a bright, yellow light shone from within. The strain was showing in Constantine's face, and he looked somewhat older, lines and wrinkles appearing across what had been baby smooth skin. Then, the light in his arm dimmed as well, and his arm resealed itself. He lifted his wing, revealing a gasping, but alive, Domovoi Butler.

Artemis rushed forward and dropped to his knees at his manservants side, with Holly right behind him. Butler's eyes were darting around, trying to take in everything that had just happened. Constantine got up slowly, and moved away from the reunion.

"Butler." Artemis croaked.

"Artemis." Butler said, without a hint of weakness in his voice. "I thought I had died."

Artemis looked over his puzzled friend's face. "Me too, old friend, me too." Butler brought his hand in front of his face, opening and closing it a few times, testing the dexterity.

"Artemis, something's wrong. I feel...young."

Artemis cocked his eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"All the aches and pains I had gained over the years, all the effects of old age that Holly's healing had done to me, they're all gone. My chest doesn't even feel tight anymore."

"You are young," Constantine's voice was weak. Artemis turned around to look at him and saw the Angel doubled over, his left arm clasped around his stomach, his breathing coming heavy, and him straining to walk to his large, black coat. His wing was still standing proudly out behind him, but the feathers were losing their glow, and molting. "I can't stop time, nor undo it's effects, but I can undo most magics. You are the same age you were when you got shot in that cafe, Butler. I even weaved that bit of kevlar in your chest into your skin, it should no loner hinder you."

"How is that possible?" Holly asked.

"There was a bit of magic infused with the science that created us." Constantine said, still not looking at them, still walking slowly towards his coat. "Pepper was a brilliant man. Brilliant, but deranged, and demented. He meddled in powers no man on earth has any right too. He stole the power of God and created us, and in doing so he made us all forsaken." His head tilted up, as if looking towards the sky. "And God said unto him..." His breath was ragged now, and his voice cracking. Artemis noticed a shining, splotchy scar splashed across his back, symmetrical with the base of his wing. "Amen." And Constantine's legs, which were weak from the healing, gave out from under him.

"Constantine!" Holly shouted, and she and Artemis rushed over to him. Even Butler jumped up from where he lay and went to his side. They couldn't get near him though, when they got within five feet of him, they stopped, as if some invisible force was holding him back. Holly actually puked.

"Holly!" Artemis exclaimed.

"He's right." She said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve and taking a step back.

"What?"

"I don't know if he's right about the God thing, but this is definitely dark magic, something with which no earth-bound creature should ever deal. It reacts badly with elven magic, which is why I was sick, he's practically radiating the stuff."

So all they could do was watch, as Constantine, who was still moving struggled, using his right arm, which was still black, and cracked with white lines, to drag himself closer and closer to his coat. He finally reached it, and fumbled around with one hand in one of the pockets, picking out a leather case. With his thumb he popped the lid, revealing two vials, filled with a clear green liquid, and a syringe. He pulled the syringe out, and, with the intense concentration showing on his face, rammed the needle into the top of one of the vials. He drew the green fluid out of the tube, and into the syringe, then with a swift motion, jammed the needle into one of the blue veins that was showing tight through the now ashen skin on his left arm. The he forced every last drop of the liquid out of the syringe, and into his system, then closed his eyes, pulled the syringe out, and lay his head, resting, upon the floor.

A moment passed, then another, and soon, a healthy pigment started returning to his skin, and his hair blossomed to its original blonde. The blackness that had encased his right arm started to fade, drawing back into his fingertips, and disappearing, leaving the arm, no longer white, but the pale, peachy color of skin. His wing started to shrink, it's feathers falling off in sheaves, and the structure itself drew back into his body, leaving no indication that it had ever been there. He didn't open his eyes, but his breathing was easy and deep, and his face was calm. He was asleep, resting peacefully.

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**Sorry it took so long, I was away at a writing retreat, no internet. :)**


	36. Better Days

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

**This chapter is Dedicated to Jay Naylor.**

Chapter 36

Butler, Holly, and Artemis all let Constantine sleep, Holly even covered the man with his own jacket. They didn't expect him to sleep long, especially with Juliet arriving soon. They waited until they heard a helicopter lowering down outside the exit, attracted to a flare that Holly and Artemis had lit before the whole ordeal with the troll had started. Light was just starting to peak through at this point, and everyone was anxious to leave. Butler easily hefted a both Kravchenko and Dragovich over his shoulders, thankful to Constantine that his knees no longer ached with old age. Holly went to go wake Constantine up.

His eyes darted open when she first touched his skin, which was odd, because he didn't even quiver with the helicopter making such a racket outside. "Hello Holly." he said, looking away from her gaze.

"Morning sleepyhead." She said, using a mud man saying she had picked up from Artemis' mother. Constantine breathed out quickly in what might have been a laugh. "What was that all about? I didn't know you could do that."

"Yeah, crazy huh?" He sat up, his arm resting on one knee, his other leg straight in front of him. She sat down next to him, her knees pulled up to her chest. They sat there, not really looking at each other, just hanging out in a dank underground basement, amongst a sea of feathers, the smell of dead troll hanging in the air between them.

"You should put a shirt on, its cold outside."

"Where am I going to get a shirt?" He asked, eyeing her cheekily. "There a TJ Max around here somewhere?"

"Conny, I don't even know what a TJ Max is." She said, laughing at him. Then she blinked, she had just used his old pet name for him. Without even thinking, she had returned them to a time that was so different. She looked at him, trying to get something from him, reassurement, perhaps, that it was okay.

"Conny? It's been years since I've been called that by you." He didn't look at her, but he didn't look bothered either. He was simply looking ahead.

"Someone else gave you that nickname?"

"My wife. She kept saying that 'Constantine' was a handful, and that Conny sounded gentler."

A silence fell between the two. Neither knowing really what to say. A moment passed, and then another.

"Conny, I don't know what to do about us, what we had -"

"Then don't do anything." He looked at her finally, smiling, that same cheerful, kind smile that had become so familiar on his face since she found him again. "I'm happy with the way things are. Aren't you happy with Artemis?"

She thought for a moment, then blushed. "Yes. More than ever."

"Then what's the problem?" He stood up, still smiling, a laughter behind his eyes replacing the weakness that had been there only minutes ago. He held out a hand to help her up. "Friends?"

She smiled and took it. "The best."

When they left the room, after Constantine put his jacket on to stave off the cold, they saw Juliet, Butler, and Artemis standing outside a helicopter, nobody moving, all waiting for them. The snow had died, as well as the wind, and the sun was glistening off of the snow. In all, it was a glorious day, but nobody looked happy.

Artemis was wearing his glasses, the ones designed to filter fairy shields, Butler was too. Constantine didn't know about these glasses, and was unaware of their function. Holly, however, was not.

"Are they here already?"

Artemis nodded, two quick, jerking motions. Holly rushed to his side.

"The Fairies?" Constantine asked.

"Yes."

"Damn, they got here quick. How many?"

Artemis looked up at the sky, squinting from the bright blue. "I'm not sure, there is only one shuttle up there. They are not coming down, but they are not shooting us either, so I suppose that's a good thing."

"Maybe they just want to talk."

"Perhaps."

Constantine looked up, then glanced at Artemis' glasses. "You can see through their cloaking device with those?"

"No, but I did have the foresight to have Juliet install an advanced radar system on the helicopter."

"Clever."

"I usually am."

"Artemis they're coming down." Juliet called from inside the helicopter. Constantine turned around and saw her sitting inside, monitoring some screen, which he presumed was a readout for the radar system. Butler re-gripped an automatic rifle he pulled from...somewhere.

Constantine could hear the landing boosters firing on the shuttle firing, no matter how "whisper silent" Foaly insisted that they were, but he didn't need too. Snow started melting in puddles, revealing small patches of brown earth, and a large part of the snow dented in when the shuttle's hull caved it inwards. Soon after, the white, rounded corners of the shuttle blinked into existence. Everyone in the group tensed, ready for a firefight.

The doors opened with a hiss, and out stepped Commander Vinyaya, and Foaly. Everyone but Butler and Holly relaxed a bit. Butler, because he had made the mistake of underestimating the LEP once, and he wasn't going to do it again. Holly, however had a wholly different reason.

She charged forward before anyone could stop her, walking right in front of Foaly, and slapping him. Hard.

"Major, stand down." Vinyaya ordered.

"I'm not your major anymore." Holly spat in Gnommish. She pulled something out of her pocket and threw it at the Commander's feet, it glittered gold in the sun, with the letters LEP standing out: It was her badge. "I quit."

"Holly." Foaly's voiced cracked.

"Don't you start!" In a second, she was in his face, shouting "Don't you dare start." She paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath. "You were my friend, Foaly! You were supposed to help me, to have my back, and you betrayed me!"

"I'm sorry." Foaly whispered, he couldn't look her in the eye.

"You're scum."

"What do you intend on doing now, Ms. Short?" Vinyaya cut in, a gleam in her eye. "Either way you have to come back with us."

"The hell I do." Holly glared at the Commander. "Fairies have lived above ground before."

Vinyaya sighed in a tired, sort of way. "There's nothing for you here, major, just come back with us and we'll work this out."

"Don't. Don't try to rationalize this with me. You stole my memories from me, you stole a part of who I was! Why would I ever want to have anything to do with you People again!"

"Then what are you going to do? Live with the mud-man? for what? Twenty years? Until people recognize that you haven't aged? What will you tell them then? Will you betray your race, Holly? Or will you live like the dozen or so who have managed to evade us? Drunk in some gutter, healing warts to pay for alcohol?"

"As long as I live, Holly will always have a home." Artemis spoke.

"Good to know she'll have a place to stay for the next eighty years, she can reflect on the good times for the rest of the 800." Vinyaya shot daggers at Artemis.

"A lot can change in 80 years." Artemis said calmly.

"Face it Holly, there is nothing for you here." Vinyaya ignored Artemis. Holly looked her in the eye and said nothing, then turned around and walked back to Artemis, who looked smug. When she reached him, she turned around and looked back at Vinyaya and Foaly.

"Here my child has a father." She declared.

For a moment, you could hear the veritable pin drop. Until Constantine, who had been sitting down in the helicopter, his legs hanging out the doors, gave out a low, long whistle. Then, it hit the veritable fan.

Both Vinyaya and Foaly started shouting at once, Vinyaya outraged and scandalized, Foaly shocked and hurt. Juliet nearly fell out of her chair laughing, and Butler was yelling at her to maintain her professionalism. The only ones who weren't making an inordinate amount of noise were Holly and Artemis. Artemis was having trouble making any sound with his throat, mainly because it felt like his throat was being filled with his intestines. He was having some trouble breathing as a matter of fact. He turned to Holly, who turned back to him. "I wanted to tell you." She said. "We just got caught up in everything that was going on, and I didn't really know till two days ago."

Artemis managed to force down his gut so that he could talk. "You're sure it's mine? I mean I know it seems like a stupid question but one really cannot be too sure about this sort of thing, and it would be presumptuous of me to assume that -"

Holly put her hand on his cheek, and he fell silent. "Artemis, it's yours. And I know I'm pregnant, I went with Juliet to get one of those home check devices, and that little amber display from yesterday confirmed it."

Artemis nodded once. "That explains quite a bit."

"WHAT?" Vinyaya's voice tore out over the din, and through the couple's concentration. "You performed that ritual with a mud man?"

"I suppose there's more to that display than you let on." Artemis whispered in Holly's ear.

"More too it? Are you telling me you are unaware of what that means, boy?"

Artemis shrugged indifferently. "I can't possibly know anything without previous data, I can suppose of course, but never know."

"Don't give me your usual brand of stinkworm shit, mud-boy, you have no idea what you've gotten yourself, and Holly into." She moved forward towards Artemis, and both Butler and Constantine stood, flanking either side of him. She stopped short of him.

"Then enlighten me."

Artemis's calm demeanor infuriated her. "The "Amber Binding" is a sacred ritual, and our most binding magic. I don't know if it has ever been performed with a human before, but for elves it's akin to mating. It's legally and magically binding, you couldn't leave her now even if you tried. You've dammed her from her people you egotistical wretch!"

Holly exploded. "Don't throw this on him! I knew exactly what I was doing, and I don't regret it for an instant! This was my decision and I won't let you belittle it."

Vinyaya glared at her through slitted teeth. "You betrayed your people."

Holly glared back, and honestly, hers was better. "They betrayed me first."

"With that," Constantine cut in, standing in between Vinyaya and Holly. "This conversation is over."

"I agree." Artemis said from behind him. "Juliet, please get the helicopter going, I think it is time we left." He guided Holly into the chopper as the blades started rotating slowly. Butler followed after them, taking his spot next to Juliet in the co-pilots seat. Constantine, however, stayed outside for a moment longer, smirking at Foaly and Vinyaya.

"Congratulations Foaly, Vinyaya, you've succeeded in alienating the best recon agent the LEP has ever seen." Foaly hung his head in shame, and Vinyaya glared at Constantine, who nodded. "Good day."

He climbed onto the helicopter and shut the sliding door behind him. Artemis watched the pair outside his window climb back into the shuttle as the blades started to move faster and faster. Soon they had lifted off, and were moving through the sky. He looked out the other window, over the town, and out to the horizon. _I'm going to be a father. _He thought, and smiled. The past was full of troubles, but better days were sure to come.

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	37. Epilogue

**I do not own Artemis Fowl**

Epilogue

Foaly sighed heavily as he walked back to his ops booth. It was late, and there was no one left in the building. It was probably better that way, no reason for the techies to see their boss in such a state. He carried a batch of paperwork under his arm as he walked slowly down the dark hallway, which was barely lit. It had been a long night.

When he entered the ops booth, he nearly had a heart attack. Sitting at his computer, playing the piano on his keyboard, dressed head to toe in black: black shirt, unbuttoned at the top, black pants, and black shoes; his blonde hair short and spiky again, was Constantine Seven.

"Frond alive." Foaly exclaimed, closing the door behind him. "What are you doing here, how did you even get down here?"

Constantine calmly shut down the program he had opened and turned towards the centaur. "I've climbed out of Hell more times than I can count, you think I can't climb back down? To answer your second question, I am here to appeal to the better part of your conscience."

"What do you mean?"

"No doubt Vinyaya has reported to the Council about Holly."

"Yeah," Foaly sighed again and put his paperwork down on his desk. "They want to take away her magic, well half of them do anyway."

"The other half?"

"They want to give her a reprieve, given she comes back to the People. We owe her, and Artemis, quite a bit, and a few of the Council have a soft spot in their heart for her, but no one can really come to grips with her going to live aboveground, with a human, none the less."

"You can." Constantine nodded at him.

"Yes but I understand her, and they don't. Artemis isn't like other humans, I think she deserves to be happy."

"You understand her."

"Yes but I -" He looked up at Constantine. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Constantine spoke slowly. "That there may be a way for you to get back into her good books."

Foaly thought for a moment. "What are you suggesting?"

Constantine leaned forward, a shrewd gleam in his eye. "You know where all the bones are buried. You know all their dirty little secrets. They can't fire you because this whole system would come crashing about their pointy little ears. Take some initiative, take some responsibility, use that against the council, or the members that want to put her away. Release a public statement saying Holly has gone on vacation to Atlantis to visit her sick aunt or something for a few decades. Everyone in Haven owes her their lives, it's not like they would complain." He stood up and looked at Foaly seriously. "If you want her to forgive you, start with that."

He passed Foaly and patted him on the shoulder. "Ball's in your court now. I'll be watching" And with that he left.

Foaly stared at the counter for a moment, weighing the options, then set his jaw. He sat down at his desk and started typing, his fingers flying across the keyboard. He had work to do.

**Please read and review. **

**Holy cow! I can't believe its over, thank you everyone who supported me, I can't express how much help it was for me to get through this. Please tune in for the next book in the series, Artemis Fowl and the Rise of Angels. I love you All!**


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